Chapter Summaries

Wang Chen sought to enlist in the Blood-Clad Guard in Jiangyuan and gained a place through Zhang Weiran’s recommendation and Wei Zhengxiong’s support. After staying at Wei Zhengxiong’s home, he was told to attack the centurion the next morning.

• Wang Chen told the gatekeeper that Zhang Weiran had recommended him, but Wei Zhengxiong arrived and took charge of the enlistment.
• Wang Chen explained his family’s misfortune and said he was fifteen and had just reached the Martial Master rank, so Wei Zhengxiong waived the assessment and told him to report the next morning.
• Wei Zhengxiong slapped the gatekeeper for objecting, then invited Wang Chen to stay at his home and promised to help him complete the formalities.
• Wei Zhengxiong introduced Wang Chen to his wife and daughters, who gathered around him during dinner at the residence.
• The next morning, Wei Zhengxiong summoned Wang Chen to the front courtyard and told him to attack with everything he had.

Wang Chen met Blood-Clad Guard Hundred Commander Wei Zhengxiong, who tested his martial strength and recognized his talent. Wei Zhengxiong agreed to support Wang Chen’s application while leaving him to avenge his father and reclaim the Ling Family himself.

• Wei Zhengxiong brought Wang Chen to his home after learning he wanted to join the Blood-Clad Guard.
• Wang Chen struck at Wei Zhengxiong with a punch that demonstrated his powerful technique and Martial Master strength.
• Wei Cailian secretly watched the sparring before fleeing into a side room.
• Wei Zhengxiong ended the test, praised Wang Chen, and heard him vow to avenge his father himself.
• Wei Zhengxiong promised to protect Wang Chen from anyone who tried to harm him.

Wang Chen completed his onboarding at the Metropolitan Guard Bureau and officially joined the Blood-Clad Guard, thanks to Wei Zhengxiong’s guarantee recommendation. Wei Zhengxiong celebrated with him, and Wang Chen ended the day returning to his new home drunk.

• Wei Zhengxiong confronted Centurion Chen over his brother-in-law and mocked the man’s suitability for anything but sweeping latrines.
• Wei Zhengxiong warned Wang Chen that Centurion Chen was a smiling tiger and told him to stay away.
• Wang Chen completed his onboarding and learned that Wei Zhengxiong had used his only guarantee recommendation quota to secure his place in the Blood-Clad Guard.
• Wei Zhengxiong explained the Metropolitan Guard Bureau’s ranks and duties, and told Wang Chen that Zhang Weiran had been demoted after offending a superior.
• Wei Zhengxiong helped Wang Chen rent a nearby house, then hosted a celebration where they drank heavily.

Wang Chen trained at the Iron Furnace Camp, quickly distinguishing himself among the probationary Blood-Clad Guards and drawing resentment from his peers. After refusing Jin Yingjie's offer to join his clique, he was confronted by three newcomers who attacked him in his dormitory.

• Wang Chen reported to the Iron Furnace Camp and began three months of training with eighty-nine other probationary Blood-Clad Guards.
• He studied the instructors' many skills seriously and soon earned their praise, becoming the leading trainee.
• Some probationary guards isolated Wang Chen, while he focused on training and cultivation rather than socializing.
• Jin Yingjie tried to recruit Wang Chen into his group, but Wang Chen refused.
• A burly newcomer and two companions attacked Wang Chen together in his dormitory.

Ling Zhiyuan defeated three freshmen who came to provoke him, and Head Instructor Wang punished them before summoning Ling Zhiyuan for private instruction. The chapter left Ling Zhiyuan poised to receive personal training beginning the next night, while Jin Yingjie resented him for defeating his lackeys.

• Ling Zhiyuan blocked the burly freshman's fists, countered the other two men's kicks, and drove all three out of his room.
• Head Instructor Wang arrived, heard the burly freshman admit he had caused the trouble, and ordered the three men treated and sent to the confinement rooms.
• Other newcomers mocked the defeated probationary Blood-Clad Guards, and Jin Yingjie glared at Ling Zhiyuan because the three men were his lackeys.
• Head Instructor Wang took Ling Zhiyuan to the instruction room and offered to guide him personally at night, starting the next day.

Wang Hui tested Wang Chen with a Demon-Identifying Talisman and confirmed he had not been possessed, despite his sudden change from the life recorded in the Blood-Clad Guard’s dossier. Wang Hui accepted Wang Chen as his disciple and revealed that his former cultivation had been higher than a peak fourth-tier Martial General.

• Wang Hui warned Wang Chen that Blood-Clad Guards must avoid the Rebel Faction and demons, then struck him with a Demon-Identifying Talisman.
• Wang Chen realized the talisman was testing whether he was a demon, and Wang Hui explained that all newcomers had to be identified.
• Wang Hui showed Wang Chen a detailed dossier of Ling Zhiyuan’s life and said his changed behavior had prompted the test.
• Wang Hui told Wang Chen to call him Master, and Wang Chen bowed and accepted him as his master.
• Wang Hui revealed that he had fallen to peak fourth-tier Martial General after his foundation was damaged, suggesting he had once been a Martial Lord.

Wang Chen learned from Wang Hui about the demonic threat and received a Demon-Identifying Talisman, then trained under his master and graduated from Iron Furnace Camp as a silver-badge Blood-Clad Guard. With a five-day deadline, he left for Anyang City to handle an important matter.

• Wang Hui warned Wang Chen about demons, gave him a Demon-Identifying Talisman, and offered to help him avenge Ling Zhiyuan's father, but Wang Chen vowed to settle the blood debt himself.
• Wang Hui guided Wang Chen in cultivating the Seven Fiend Wheels and taught him four martial skills, which Wang Chen mastered with exceptional speed.
• After three months of training, Wang Chen earned Jia grades in every assessment and became a silver-badge Blood-Clad Guard.
• Wang Chen declined an invitation to celebrate graduation and told Wang Hui he was ready to leave.
• Wang Chen left Iron Furnace Camp on a horse lent by Wang Hui and set out for Anyang City, with five days to complete an important matter.

Wang Chen visited Ling Hongyun’s grave in Qianhe Town and swore to avenge the Ling Family before entering Anyang City in disguise. He then broke into the Ling Family Ancestral Hall and opened a hidden underground chamber.

• Wang Chen ate breakfast at a tea stall in Qianhe Town, then left offerings at Ling Hongyun’s grave and swore to avenge the family.
• After making his vow, Wang Chen felt his fate qi surge and his spiritual awareness sharpen as he integrated further into the world.
• Wang Chen disguised himself, entered Anyang City, and waited until night before heading to the Ling Family Ancestral Hall.
• Wang Chen slipped into a locked room, triggered a concealed floor mechanism, and descended into an underground chamber.
• Wang Chen twisted two bronze lamps, causing the stone wall ahead to shudder and release dust.

Wang Chen emptied the Ling Family’s hidden chamber and encountered Third Granduncle, who warned him to leave and revealed where the final two layers of the Mysterious Heaven Seven Fiend Wheels were hidden. After Wang Chen left, Third Granduncle prayed for him and set the ancestral hall ablaze.

• Wang Chen took all the treasures from the hidden chamber beneath the Ling Family Ancestral Hall and restored the room to its original state.
• Third Granduncle caught Wang Chen and recognized him as Ling Zhiyuan, then told him he suspected someone had targeted Ling Hongyun and the Ling Family.
• Wang Chen revealed that he had joined the Blood-Clad Guard, and Third Granduncle encouraged him to rise in rank for the Ling Family’s protection.
• Third Granduncle told Wang Chen that the final two layers of the Mysterious Heaven Seven Fiend Wheels were in the Library Pavilion of Yuntai Mountain Daoist Palace.
• Wang Chen left the ancestral hall, and Third Granduncle prayed for his safety before setting the hall on fire and remaining inside.

After the Ling Family Ancestral Hall burned, Wang Chen left Anyang City and examined the treasure he had recovered. He found a vast fortune, properties in Great Ye City, and the Mysterious Heaven Seven Fiend Wheels manual, which contained the cultivation formulas through the fifth layer.

• Wang Chen watched the Ling Family Ancestral Hall burn and suspected Third Uncle-Grandfather had set the fire to protect its secrets.
• The next morning, Wang Chen struck a man in the throat with a pebble after he spread malicious rumors about the Ling Family.
• Wang Chen rode out of Anyang City and sheltered in a cave, where he opened the chests he had taken from the ancestral hall.
• Wang Chen found gold, silver, weapons, pills, medicinal herbs, banknotes, and deeds to properties in Great Ye City.
• Wang Chen discovered that the Mysterious Heaven Seven Fiend Wheels manual contained the general outline and cultivation formulas for its first five layers, then put the other treasures away.

Ling Hongfeng regretted taking control of the Ling Family while Steward Zhang pressed him to find Ling Hongyun’s secret cache and locate Ling Zhiyuan. Meanwhile, Wang Chen used the original Mysterious Heaven Seven Fiend Wheels manual and aged ginseng to condense the Devouring Thief Wheel, advancing to the Martial General rank.

• Ling Hongfeng lamented the burdens of leading the Ling Family and the nightmares that haunted him after taking his elder brother’s position.
• Steward Zhang questioned Ling Hongfeng about the ancestral hall fire and demanded news of the Ling Family’s hidden treasure and the Mysterious Heaven Seven Fiend Wheels manual.
• Ling Hongfeng said he did not know where Ling Hongyun’s secret cache was and asked whether Ling Zhiyuan had been found; Steward Zhang said Thousand Mechanisms Tower was investigating.
• Wang Chen began condensing the Devouring Thief Wheel by circulating his life force and replenishing his Potential points with aged ginseng.
• Wang Chen successfully formed the Devouring Thief Wheel and advanced to the Martial General rank.

Wang Chen returned to Jiangyuan City, gave Wang Hui a rare ginseng gift, and received his master's advice and a secret record. Wei Zhengxiong assigned him to Linjiang County, where Wang Chen headed immediately to take up his post amid rising demonic and heretical activity.

• Wang Chen returned Wang Hui's horse and gave his master a nearly three-hundred-year-old wild ginseng root.
• Wang Hui accepted the ginseng, let Wang Chen keep the Yellow Dappled Horse, and gave him a book of Blood-Clad Guard experiences.
• Wei Zhengxiong gave Wang Chen his waist token and appointment letter and explained that he had been assigned to a county post.
• Wei Zhengxiong assigned Wang Chen to Linjiang County, where demonic beings and heretical cults had caused serious trouble and the local Blood-Clad Guard had lost many men.
• Wang Chen left Jiangyuan City without spending the night and hurried toward Linjiang County.

Wang Chen arrived in Linjiang and was targeted by dockside thugs, but revealed his Blood-Clad Guard token and forced the local constables to arrest them. Captain Li then offered to escort Wang Chen to the guard station.

• Wang Chen hired a small boat to cross the river to Linjiang, where the boatman warned him that the town had been chaotic.
• Huang Lao Liu and his companions surrounded Wang Chen at the wharf and tried to rob him and his horse.
• Wang Chen swiftly broke one thug’s hand and left another with a severed hand hanging from the bundle beside the saddle.
• Captain Li arrived and ordered Wang Chen to kneel, but recognized his Blood-Clad Guard token and became frightened.
• Wang Chen asked Captain Li how he would punish the robbers, and Captain Li ordered the constables to arrest Huang Lao Liu and the others.
• Captain Li bowed to Wang Chen and offered to lead him to the guard station.

Wang Chen arrived at the Linjiang County Blood-Clad Guard Station, where Old Qiu took him under his wing and introduced him to his squad. With the county quiet for now, Wang Chen settled into a calm routine of cultivation and secretly brewing medicinal tonics to build his Potential points.

• Pang Tai assigned Old Qiu to show Wang Chen the ropes at the Linjiang guard station, and Old Qiu recognized that Wang Chen's Silver Badge posting to the county was unusual.
• Old Qiu toured Wang Chen around the understaffed station, gave him advice, and welcomed him as a fellow graduate of the Iron Furnace Camp.
• Old Qiu and the squad treated Wang Chen to a welcome banquet at Qingchun Tower, where Wang Chen impressed them by drinking two jars of strong liquor.
• Wang Chen spent his quiet days at the station cultivating and buying prescriptions to use medicinal ingredients from the Ling Family's secret treasury.
• Wang Chen secretly rented a secluded house to brew and drink medicine, and his Potential points continued to rise.

Wang Chen ignored a Potential notification and rushed to the Blood-Clad Guard station after its emergency signal, where Old Qiu led a team to investigate a Skin-Peeling Demon attack. The sighthound tracked the demon’s scent out of the city and into the northern mountain forest.

• Wang Chen checked his status panel and saw that his Potential had risen to 971.
• Wang Chen rode to the guard station after seeing the Blood-Clad Summons Order fireworks, ignoring Dong Zhihui’s complaint as Old Qiu ordered the squad to leave.
• Old Qiu and the guards found four skinned members of Tailor Lin’s family, while the family’s five-year-old daughter remained missing.
• Old Qiu’s sighthound picked up a scent at the crime scene and led the guards beyond the city walls.
• The sighthound tracked the scent north into a dense mountain forest.

Wang Chen and the Blood-Clad Guards were ambushed by the Yellow Lotus Sect on a mountain path. As his companions formed up without him, Wang Chen fought the attackers alone, and the chapter ended with him unleashing a sweeping spear technique against the surrounding enemies.

• The Blood-Clad Guards followed a hound into the woods, where a net, arrows, and an assassin suddenly attacked them.
• Wang Chen unfolded his Seven Feather Spear, broke the net, deflected arrows, and killed the assassin with a Returning Horse Spear.
• Yellow Lotus Sect followers sprang from the woods, blocked the path with boulders, and attacked the guards; Old Qiu sent up a distress signal.
• Old Qiu and the other guards formed the Three Talents Formation, leaving Wang Chen outside it as Dong Zhihui told them to abandon him.
• Wang Chen fought off the attackers, killing several Yellow Lotus Sect followers with his Seven Feather Spear.
• Wang Chen unleashed Nine Prairie Fire Strikes—Sweep Through a Thousand Armies against the surrounding bandits.

Wang Chen defeated a powerful Yellow Lotus Sect leader and rescued Old Qiu, Dong Zhihui, and another Blood-Clad Guard from the ambush. After the surviving attackers fled at a horn’s signal, Wang Chen suspected the mastermind was nearby and realized the real battle was still ahead.

• Wang Chen used the Prairie Fire Spear Technique to slaughter the Yellow Lotus Sect followers until their leader charged him with twin axes.
• Wang Chen defeated the peak Martial Master leader, hurling his Seven Feather Spear through him and causing the followers to flee in fear.
• Wang Chen rushed to Old Qiu and the other Blood-Clad Guards, who were trapped and badly wounded by the surrounding attackers.
• Wang Chen fought alongside the three guards, breaking the siege until a horn sounded and the Yellow Lotus Sect followers scattered.
• Old Qiu and Dong Zhihui thanked Wang Chen, who looked toward the horn and suspected the ambush’s mastermind was hiding nearby.

Wang Chen and the Blood-Clad Guard survived a Yellow Lotus Sect ambush, and Old Qiu recognized that Wang Chen’s killing of Black Whirlwind Li Kui had earned him a Minor Merit. They returned safely to Linjiang City, where Pang Tai revealed that another suspected evil-fiend incident had drawn a second team into danger.

• Old Qiu ordered the group to return to the city with injured Xiao Zhuang, and the men collected the severed heads of their attackers as proof of merit.
• Old Qiu identified the slain burly man as Black Whirlwind Li Kui, whose head earned Wang Chen one Minor Merit and brought him close to becoming a Banner Officer.
• Old Qiu reminded Dong Zhihui and Xiao Zhuang that Wang Chen had saved their lives, then led the group back toward Linjiang City.
• The group saw a Blood-Clad Guard distress signal but continued to the city because they lacked mounts and Xiao Zhuang was wounded.
• Old Qiu reported the ambush to Pang Tai, who revealed that he had sent another team to investigate a separate suspected evil-fiend incident in the city.

Pang Tai learned that Ling Zhiyuan had helped Old Qiu’s squad defeat the Yellow Lotus Sect and reported his remarkable contribution. After the county was stabilized and reinforcements arrived, Captain Xue questioned Ling Zhiyuan’s battle record, and Pang Tai stood by it.

• Pang Tai ordered the county yamen to request garrison reinforcements after Old Qiu reported the Yellow Lotus Sect’s attack.
• Old Qiu presented thirty-two heads, including Black Whirlwind Li Kui’s, and credited Ling Zhiyuan with killing Li Kui and taking twenty-four heads.
• Pang Tai promised to report the squad’s merits, while Old Qiu left to verify the heads and claim their honors.
• The county yamen and garrison suppressed the uprising, but the Blood-Clad Guard suffered six deaths and many injuries, prompting Pang Tai to request reinforcements from the prefectural city.
• Captain Xue questioned Ling Zhiyuan’s battle record, and Pang Tai offered to take responsibility, citing the recovered heads and Li Kui’s axes as proof.

Ling Hongfeng learned that Ling Zhiyuan had become a Silver Badge Blood-Clad Guard and feared he would return to expose the plot that put Ling Hongfeng in power. Steward Zhang urged him to hire Thousand Mechanisms Tower to kill Ling Zhiyuan, leaving Ling Hongfeng desperate to find the hundred thousand taels required.

• Ling Hongfeng regretted taking the Ling Family patriarch's seat as family infighting and business losses overwhelmed him.
• Steward Zhang told Ling Hongfeng that Thousand Mechanisms Tower had found Ling Zhiyuan in Linjiang County, where he served as a Blood-Clad Guard officer.
• Steward Zhang revealed that Ling Zhiyuan had ranked first in his training cohort and earned Silver Badge status, and accused Ling Hongyun of concealing his son's abilities.
• Steward Zhang warned that Ling Zhiyuan might return with enough strength and status to destroy Ling Hongfeng, then proposed having Thousand Mechanisms Tower assassinate him.
• Ling Hongfeng balked at the hundred-thousand-tael fee, while Steward Zhang demanded he raise the money by selling the family's property or other assets.