Chapter Summaries

Song Changming helped Lu Gang and the patrol guards capture the wanted thief Sun Meng, the Night Haunter, in a narrow alley. The arrest earned Song Changming a major merit and promised a reward of three thousand taels.

• Lu Gang confronted Sun Meng in the alley and recognized him as the notorious Night Haunter, but Sun Meng overwhelmed him.
• Song Changming intervened and wounded Sun Meng with his perfected Soul Severing Saber technique.
• Sun Meng fired hidden Copper Needles from his Iron Claws, but Song Changming deflected them with the Flying Swallow Style.
• Sun Meng tried to escape over the alley wall, but Song Changming pinned his leg with a thrown sword.
• Lu Gang and the patrol guards shackled Sun Meng, and Lu Gang confirmed the thief carried a three-thousand-tael bounty.

After capturing the Night Haunter, Song Changming drew the attention of Xiao Yanli, the Xiao Family's Third Young Master, who invited him to Xiao Manor. The chapter ended with Xiao Yanli asking Song Changming to spar with several skilled blade users so he could assess his abilities.

• Xiao Yanli learned that twenty-year-old Patrol Captain Song Changming had captured the Night Haunter and asked his steward to arrange a meeting.
• Liang Chuanshan summoned Song Changming, explained that Xiao Yanli wanted to meet him, and accompanied him to the Xiao Family's carriage.
• Xiao Gu brought Song Changming to Xiao Manor, where he waited as Xiao Yanli practiced swordsmanship with two guards.
• Xiao Yanli praised Song Changming's record and said capturing the Night Haunter had brought him to the attention of powerful figures.
• Xiao Yanli asked Song Changming to exchange pointers with several skilled blade users so he could judge his strength.

Song Changming demonstrated his superior martial arts to Xiao Yanli, who offered him a post at the General Directorate under his patronage. As Song Changming considered the opportunity, Xiao Shuyun arrived and revealed that she also wanted him.

• Song Changming defeated Xiao Shengping in a spar, impressing Xiao Yanli with his strength and perfected saber art.
• Xiao Yanli offered Song Changming a position as Urban Patrol Captain at the General Security Department and invited him to accept his patronage.
• Song Changming recognized that accepting Xiao Yanli's offer would bind him to the Xiao family, but he wanted the chance to serve at the General Directorate.
• A servant announced Xiao Shuyun's arrival, and she told Xiao Yanli that he had nearly taken the person she wanted.
• Xiao Yanli asked Xiao Shuyun whether she meant Song Changming.

Song Changming had to choose between Xiao Yanli and Xiao Shuyun, who both wanted to recruit him. He accepted Xiao Shuyun’s offer and agreed to assist her.

• Xiao Shuyun arrived and Xiao Yanli teased her for disguising herself to go out despite their father’s ban.
• Xiao Yanli offered to keep her secret if she stopped interfering with his plan to transfer Song Changming to the General Directorate.
• Xiao Yanli relented and let Xiao Shuyun try to persuade Song Changming to join her.
• Xiao Shuyun offered Song Changming a Three Gold Pill and promised she could secure his transfer to the General Directorate.
• Song Changming accepted Xiao Shuyun’s offer, and she was relieved and delighted.

Song Changming received Xiao Shuyun’s support for a position in the General Security Department and used the Three Gold Pill to improve his Root and martial training. At the Xiao family’s New Year banquet, Xiao Yueye revealed she had also planned to recommend someone to the department.

• Song Changming told Liang Chuanshan that Xiao Shuyun had offered to support his transfer to the General Security Department, and Liang congratulated him.
• Song Changming kept the transfer quiet while he waited for Xiao Shuyun to make arrangements.
• Song Changming swallowed the Three Gold Pill and found the next day that his Root had risen from ten to thirteen, improving his training progress.
• Xiao Jingchuan joined the Xiao family’s New Year banquet, where Xiao Yueye asked Xiao Shuyun about recommending Song Changming to the General Security Department.
• Xiao Yueye said she had also planned to recommend an overlooked candidate to the department.

After Xiao Shuyun’s recommendation for Song Changming was challenged, his chance to join the General Security Department became a competition. Fourth Miss Xiao sent him a Dragon-Patterned Saber as an apology, and the chapter ended with General Security Department officials arriving in early February.

• Xiao Yueye challenged Xiao Shuyun’s recommendation, and Xiao Jingchuan ruled that the General Security Department position would be decided fairly by ability.
• Song Changming learned that he would have to compete for a quota to enter the General Security Department, but remained confident in his martial strength.
• Min’er delivered a Dragon-Patterned Saber from Fourth Miss Xiao as an apology for the change in his opportunity.
• Song Changming tested the heavy saber and was impressed by its sharpness and effect on his combat power.
• At the beginning of February, people from the General Security Department arrived.

Song Changming competed for the General Directorate’s externally appointed Patrol Captain position and defeated Peng Hongyi with a single slash, impressing the officials and the other candidates. The next match began between He Xuan and Zhang An, with its outcome left unrevealed.

• Song Changming arrived at the General Security Department to compete against seven other Patrol Captains for one position.
• Director Xie Shihuan told the candidates that the selection would be decided by martial strength, and Lu Zheng arranged the matches.
• Song Changming drew Peng Hongyi from Qinghe County and quickly broke both his arms with a single heavy saber strike.
• Song Changming’s victory erased the other candidates’ contempt, while Zhou Sixin noticed how much stronger Song Changming had become.
• Lu Zheng called Zhang An and He Xuan for the next match, whose result surprised the onlookers.

Song Changming and He Xuan advanced through the competition to face each other for the Capital City Patrol Captain position. Their first exchange ended without either gaining an advantage, leaving the decisive duel underway.

• He Xuan defeated his opponent with exceptional Light Body Technique, leaving Song Changming and him as the final two competitors.
• Song Changming defeated an older Patrol Captain in three saber strikes and disarmed him.
• Xie Shihuan welcomed Xiao Yueye, Xiao Yanli, and Xiao Shuyun, who came to watch the competition.
• He Xuan defeated his opponent and advanced to the final against Song Changming.
• Song Changming and He Xuan exchanged saber and sword strikes, but neither gained an advantage in their opening clash.

Song Changming defeated He Xuan in the selection and secured his transfer to the General Security Department, then celebrated the good news with his family. As he prepared to move to Jinxiu Street, Song Yu visited after hearing of his transfer, while her husband Zhao Huaiming continued to oppose his father over making her his principal wife.

• Song Changming used the Flying Swallow Style to overcome He Xuan's movement technique, disarm him, and win their match.
• Xiao Yueye left after Song Shuyun's candidate won, and Song Shuyun confirmed she would give Song Changming the Dragon-Patterned Saber as promised.
• Song Changming told Liang Chuanshan he had succeeded, then informed his parents of his coming transfer; his mother also shared that Song Yu was pregnant.
• Zhao Huaiming argued with Zhao Dezhi about marrying Song Yu as his principal wife, but Zhao Dezhi refused, and Zhao Huaiming promised to keep asking.
• Song Changming received orders to join the General Security Department in three days and began arranging a home on Jinxiu Street, while his parents chose to stay on Houli Street.
• Song Yu came to visit Song Changming the day after he received his transfer order.

Song Changming persuaded Zhao Dezhi to let Song Yu become Zhao Huaiming’s proper wife, then took up his new post as a Patrol Captain in the General Directorate. He established his authority over the newly formed seventeenth Patrol Guard Team by challenging its members, and the chapter ended with him asking who else wanted to test him.

• Song Changming learned that Zhao Huaiming wanted to remarry Song Yu as his proper wife, and promised to speak with Zhao Dezhi.
• Song Changming confronted Zhao Dezhi and persuaded him to agree by offering Zhao Huaiming a Patrol Captain position and warning that he could also strip the Zhao Family of its captains.
• Zhao Dezhi summoned Zhao Huaiming and agreed to the remarriage, leaving them to arrange an auspicious date.
• Song Changming completed his transfer to the General Directorate and introduced himself to the thirty patrolmen of the seventeenth Patrol Guard Team.
• Song Changming invited his subordinates to challenge him, then defeated Liang Zhaolong without moving from his spot.
• Liang Zhaolong admitted defeat, and Song Changming asked whether anyone else wanted to challenge him.

Song Changming helped Lu Zheng’s Patrol Guard Team capture skilled Incense Lighting Gang members, but the operation was interrupted when a huge, mist-breathing beast emerged from an alley. The chapter ended with the patrol guards confronting the creature.

• Song Changming established his authority over his new team and provisionally appointed Liang Zhaolong as his deputy.
• Song Changming and Lu Zheng led their teams to Changling Street, where they defeated and captured martial wanderers linked to the Incense Lighting Gang.
• Song Changming learned that the gang had been recruiting across multiple districts and that the mission aimed to uncover its ties to the Tengya Mountain bandit army.
• A massive, dog-like creature with murky eyes and mist around its nostrils charged out of an alley, forcing Lu Zheng’s experts to retreat wounded.

Song Changming and Lu Zheng fought five Mist Beasts created by an Incense Lighting Cult Beast Tamer, then captured the man and recovered the Mist Gold that controlled the beasts. Lu Zheng explained that the artifact and its Scorching Mist could draw the attention of powerful authorities because Mist Gold had caused bloody turmoil before.

• Lu Zheng identified the giant dog as a Mist Beast, and the Beast Tamer used Mist Gold to transform four more dogs and set all five on the Patrol Guard Team.
• Lu Zheng held off the largest Mist Beast while Song Changming killed one beast and wounded another as he pursued the Beast Tamer into an alley.
• Song Changming captured the unconscious Beast Tamer and returned with the Mist Gold still clutched in the man's severed hand.
• Lu Zheng used the Mist Gold to make the remaining Mist Beasts lie down and explained how Scorching Mist transformed and controlled them.
• A patrol guard identified the Beast Tamer as an Incense Lighting Cult core member, and Lu Zheng ordered the Mist Beasts secured for transport.

Song Changming helped dismantle the Incense Lighting Gang, secured a proper remarriage for Song Yu, and settled into his new headquarters duties. At the annual evaluation, he received three reward options.

• Xie Shihuan examined the captured Mist Beasts and ordered a broad investigation into the Incense Lighting Gang and its Mist Gold.
• The General Security Department exposed the gang, identified its red incense as a drug mixture, and captured its core members.
• Lu Zheng explained that the gang had grown from a physician’s charitable effort into a criminal group, and its captured members were executed while deceived citizens were treated or imprisoned.
• Song Changming arranged a grand wedding for Song Yu and recommended Zhao Huaiming as a new Patrol Captain.
• At the June annual evaluation, Song Changming received a panel report and three choices of annual reward.

Song Changming chose the Saber Practitioner trait and found that it accelerated his saber training. Later, Xiao Shuyun asked him to assess young Martial Artists for her, and he identified Luo Meng as a promising candidate before she offered him a place as her retainer.

• Song Changming selected the Saber Practitioner trait and estimated that it increased his saber technique experience by about twenty percent.
• Min'er invited Song Changming to Xiao Manor on behalf of Xiao Shuyun.
• Xiao Shuyun asked Song Changming to evaluate young Martial Artists she hoped to recruit as retainers.
• Song Changming judged the first group mediocre, and Xiao Shuyun sent them away without sparring him.
• Song Changming singled out Luo Meng for his staff skills, and Xiao Shuyun offered the Dingqing Temple disciple a retainer position.

Song Changming accepted Xiao Shuyun’s annotated Spirit Monkey Art and used it to develop a second body-refining path alongside the Great Strength Bull Demon Art. After a year of progress, he confronted the wanted swordsman Liu Luo, who first claimed he had come to surrender but then challenged Song Changming to a saber exchange and attacked.

• Luo Meng pledged obedience to Xiao Shuyun, and Song Changming helped her screen potential retainers, though few promising candidates appeared.
• Xiao Shuyun gave Song Changming an annotated copy of the Spirit Monkey Art, which he began cultivating to improve his agility and coordination.
• Song Changming reached the First Realm of marrow cleansing in less than three months, then advanced to the Second Realm as his Great Strength Bull Demon Art reached the Fourth Realm.
• Song Changming’s annual evaluation was ordinary, so he saved lifespan, chose one Root attribute point, and brought his lifespan to thirty-eight thousand days.
• At Flower Full Tower, Song Changming identified the wanted Southern Tiger Swordsman Liu Luo, who said he had come to surrender but challenged Song Changming to exchange saber moves.
• Liu Luo seized his saber and slashed at Song Changming before he could reply.

Song Changming captured the Southern Tiger Swordsman and learned that his Azure Water Silkworm breeding with Father Song had produced a new generation with two blue markings. He was then summoned to help escort an important person, and the chapter ended as he and Lu Zheng accompanied Xie Shihuan to meet the arriving caravan.

• Song Changming defeated Liu Luo, the Southern Tiger Swordsman, and handed him over to the General Security Department.
• Song Changming admired the two-marked Azure Water Silkworms he and Father Song had bred, while Big Yellow and Big White guarded the Song Residence.
• Xie Shihuan ordered Song Changming and four other Capital City Patrol Captains to prepare for a secret escort mission on the governor's orders.
• Song Changming joined Xie Shihuan's force of more than two hundred patrolmen and the five-hundred-man Imperial Cavalry unit led by Fan Yun.
• Xie Shihuan reached the arriving caravan and, after confirming he alone could carry the token, brought Lu Zheng and Song Changming forward with him.

Song Changming and the Patrol Guards joined the convoy carrying a powerful official, but the group was ambushed on the road back to the Prefecture City. After resisting the attackers’ poison and killing several foes, Song Changming pressed into the fight.

• Xie Shihuan, Song Changming, and Lu Zheng met the convoy and confirmed the identity of the important figure inside its carriage.
• The convoy joined the Commandant Fan Yun’s cavalry and began returning to the Prefecture City, but Signal Smoke revealed an enemy attack ahead.
• Fan Yun led two hundred cavalrymen to confront the attackers while Song Changming prepared the Patrol Guards to defend the convoy.
• Around twenty or thirty cloaked attackers broke through the cavalry, endured the Patrol Guards’ crossbow barrage, and scattered Poison Powder that weakened many defenders.
• Song Changming and Lu Zheng led the stronger Patrol Guards into close combat as Xie Shihuan guarded the carriage.
• Song Changming killed one attacker with a powerful saber strike, then dodged hidden weapons and pinned another enemy with his Official Saber.

Song Changming helped repel an assassination attempt on the convoy and discovered that a captured attacker had named the reigning Crown Prince as the mastermind. The protected old man reached the County Governor's Mansion safely, but Song Changming suspected the man carried a dangerous secret.

• Song Changming killed several attackers, defeated a Fifth Realm body-refinement expert, and helped break the assault until the surviving assassins retreated.
• Xie Shihuan and Fan Yun led the pursuit, and a captured attacker claimed the reigning Crown Prince had sent the assassins.
• An elderly passenger emerged to dismiss the claim, and the convoy continued toward the Prefecture City with the captives and wounded in tow.
• Xie Shihuan reported the attack to Xiao Jingchuan, who ordered secrecy and an urgent interrogation of the captives.
• Xiao Jingchuan welcomed the old man into the County Governor's Mansion while Song Changming watched, suspecting that the visitor brought great trouble.

After interrogating the surviving attackers, Song Changming sensed that a factional struggle was approaching and chose to keep his ties to the Xiao Family limited. Tengya Mountain’s bandit army received orders to attack Donglai Commandery City, prompting Xiao Jingchuan and his officials to mobilize the commandery’s forces and consider revealing the Xiao Family’s Private Soldiers.

• Xie Shihuan tortured the captured attackers, who claimed the Crown Prince had sent them and warned that Li Zhe had crossed him, but Xie suspected they were mixing truth with lies.
• Xie Shihuan reported the interrogation to the County Governor and ordered Song Changming and Lu Zheng to keep the attackers’ claims secret.
• Song Changming and Lu Zheng discussed the likely truth of the factional struggle, and Song decided not to seek a post in the County Governor’s Mansion or bind himself too closely to the Xiao Family.
• On Tengya Mountain, the leaders learned they were to attack Donglai Commandery City, and Big Brother ordered the bandit army to prepare for the assault.
• Xiao Hongyang identified the bandit leaders as the Three Dragons from Dongcang, while Xiao Jingchuan ordered scouts and defenses mobilized across the commandery.
• Xiao Hongyang persuaded Xiao Jingchuan to reveal the Xiao Family’s Private Soldiers as potential reinforcements, and Xiao Jingchuan agreed to conceal their status afterward.

As Tengya Mountain’s bandit army advanced on the Prefecture City, Song Changming was assigned to protect Xiao Shuyun while a separate trap drew the County Governor’s forces away from Li Zhe. Xie Shihuan led the Three Dragons of Dongcang straight to Li Zhe’s hiding place, where the assassins prepared to attack.

• News spread that Tengya Mountain’s bandit army was marching toward the Prefecture City, and Song Changming reassured his family before returning to duty.
• Song Changming was assigned to protect Fourth Miss Xiao at Xiao Manor as the battle began outside the city.
• Assassins broke into Li Zhe’s former room at the County Governor’s Mansion, where the authorities ambushed them with fire and armed forces.
• Xiao Jingchuan sent Xie Shihuan to check on Li Zhe, and Xie Shihuan’s arrival revealed Li Zhe’s location to the enemy.
• Jiang Kan, Luo Haolin, and Xu Dabao, the Three Dragons of Dongcang, confronted Li Zhe and prepared to kill him.