Chapter Summaries

Song Changming’s cultivation and income remained constrained as the Fifth Prince’s policies weakened the patrol guards. After Liang Zhaolong punished men who had assaulted a woman, their commander Gao Qiu stormed the General Security Department, where Song Changming defeated and nearly killed him before Zhuang Ren intervened.

• Song Changming continued training the Ox Demon Art but struggled to afford the Century-old Ginseng needed to speed his progress.
• Liang Zhaolong led patrol guards to stop several men from assaulting a woman, and Song Changming ordered the men’s limbs broken instead of arresting them.
• Gao Qiu brought soldiers to the General Security Department to find the patrol guard who had crippled his younger brother.
• Song Changming blocked Gao Qiu, beat him in a clash, cut his spear in two, and held his saber at the general’s neck.
• Zhuang Ren challenged Gao Qiu’s unauthorized entry, but Gao Qiu left with a threat after pointing to his brother’s attempt to enlist under the Fifth Prince.

After taking responsibility for his patrolmen, Song Changming was stripped of his post but gained the support of his family and several former subordinates. As he began planning a new livelihood with Liang Zhaolong, Gao Qiu led armed men toward the city, and Song Changming confronted a group of black-clad figures outside his home.

• Song Changming refused Zhuang Ren’s offer to dismiss his subordinates instead, and his parents supported his decision after he explained the incident.
• Three days later, the authorities removed Song Changming as Capital City Patrol Captain, and he declined Lu Zheng’s offer to help him regain his position.
• Liang Zhaolong and seven or eight patrolmen resigned to stay with Song Changming, who accepted their loyalty.
• Gao Qiu arrived outside the Prefecture City and ordered his men to enter and seek revenge for A'hu.
• Song Changming discussed creating work and shelter for refugees with Liang Zhaolong, then sensed approaching intruders and went outside to meet twenty to thirty black-clad figures.

Song Changming fought off Gao Qiu and his armed men, then faced Gao Qiu’s high-level Mist Beast. After the beast began absorbing the fallen men’s blood essence, Song Changming bypassed it and cut off both of Gao Qiu’s hands.

• Gao Qiu revealed himself and threatened to kill Song Changming and his family, so Song Changming attacked his men.
• Song Changming used his Perfected Saber Technique and Dragon-Patterned Saber to kill Gao Qiu’s men throughout the alley.
• Gao Qiu released a high-level Mist Beast from Mist Gold, and Song Changming’s strike knocked it through an alley wall.
• Gao Qiu ordered the Mist Beast to absorb the corpses’ blood essence, and Song Changming leaped away to attack Gao Qiu directly.
• Gao Qiu raised his spear to defend himself, but Song Changming’s saber circled it and severed both his hands.

Song Changming killed Gao Qiu and took control of the Mist Beast with the Mist Gold he found on him. After Liang Chuanshan secured the beast and evidence, the military disowned Gao Qiu, leaving Song Changming free of consequences.

• Song Changming killed Gao Qiu, found two pieces of Mist Gold on him, and used the larger piece to control the fleeing Mist Beast.
• Liang Zhaolong saw the bodies and Mist Beast, and he and Song Changming agreed to root out Gao Qiu's remaining allies.
• Song Changming summoned Zhao Dezhi and Liang Chuanshan, then entrusted Liang Chuanshan with the Mist Gold and Mist Beast.
• Liang Chuanshan reported the incident to Zhuang Ren, and the military distanced itself from Gao Qiu, while Song Changming faced no further trouble.

After losing his post, Song Changming asked Liu Dingsheng about Mist Gold and sold him the piece he had kept from Gao Qiu. Half a month later, Liu Dingsheng sent him a 350-year-old Flowing Gold Ginseng, leaving Song Changming thrilled by the rare medicine.

• Rumors spread about Song Changming's dismissal, but he ignored them as winter passed and spring arrived.
• Song Changming asked Liu Dingsheng about Mist Gold and learned that it was a valuable cultivation resource that could be sold through private channels.
• Song Changming showed Liu Dingsheng the piece of Mist Gold he had kept, and Liu agreed to sell it for at least fifty Han Gold.
• Liu Ziwen delivered a medicine box and money pouch from Liu Dingsheng to Song Changming about half a month later.
• Song Changming discovered that the medicine box contained a 350-year-old Flowing Gold Ginseng and eagerly admired it.

Song Changming consumed the 350-year-old Flowing Gold Ginseng and gained a dramatic boost to his body-refining progress. As he continued training in Donglai Commandery, Liang Zhaolong prepared to lead the Changming Association into war-torn regions to recruit people.

• Liu Ziwen returned Song Changming's remaining Han Gold to Liu Dingsheng, who accepted it and told Liu Ziwen to help Song Changming find anything else he needed.
• After waiting for his previous ginseng's effects to fade, Song Changming brewed and consumed the Flowing Gold Ginseng, then trained through the day as its potent medicine coursed through him.
• Song Changming's Great Strength Bull Demon Art rose to Strength of Six Bulls (354/600), while his other three Body Refining Techniques also gained experience.
• Song Changming ate a large meal to replenish himself and resolved to use the ginseng's lingering effects to reach the Bone Forging Seventh Realm within the year.
• Liang Zhaolong told Song Changming that he had recruited enough men and would leave the next day to develop the Changming Association in regions troubled by war.

Song Changming reached the Seventh Realm after the Flowing Gold Ginseng accelerated his Bone Forging, then began learning Liu Dingsheng’s martial arts in exchange for agreeing to help protect Liu Yan'er until she married. As he trained and accepted a low annual reward rather than risk involvement in turmoil, an unidentified disturbance interrupted his chess game with Liu Dingsheng.

• Song Changming completed the Ox Demon Art's Bone Forging, reached the Seventh Realm, and struck an Iron Stake with enough force to uproot and bend it.
• Song Changming asked Liu Dingsheng to teach him fist and leg techniques, and Liu Dingsheng agreed on the condition that Song Changming help protect Liu Yan'er until she married.
• Song Changming began learning Liu Dingsheng's martial arts and used his martial arts panel to record them quickly, moving from one technique to another.
• Song Changming accepted a low annual evaluation, added its single Attribute Point to his Root, and chose to keep training quietly rather than enter conflicts.
• Song Changming and Liu Dingsheng played chess in the Liu Family courtyard when shouting from the outer courtyard announced an intruder or disturbance.

Song Changming defended Liu Dingsheng from two waves of assassins at the Liu Residence, using newly learned martial arts against the first group before drawing his Dragon-Patterned Saber against the second. He defeated their Seventh Realm leader and left him pinned to the ground.

• Liu Ziwen’s voice alerted Song Changming and Liu Dingsheng to an attack, and their subordinates fought the assassins outside.
• Song Changming defeated the first group of Fifth Realm attackers with the Roaming Step, grappling techniques, Turbulent Flow Palm, and Mountain Splitting Leg Technique.
• Liu Dingsheng offered Song Changming a two-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng if he captured the next group’s leader alive.
• Song Changming cut through the attackers’ formation with his Soul-Starting Saber Strike and fought their Seventh Realm leader.
• The leader tried to escape over the courtyard wall, but Song Changming caught up and pinned him to the ground with his saber.

Song Changming helped Liu Dingsheng defeat a revenge-driven assassin, who learned he had mistaken Liu Dingsheng for his family’s killer and was allowed to leave to investigate. As drought and famine weakened the Great Han Dynasty and sparked rebellions, Song Changming protected his household’s grain stores in Donglai Commandery City.

• Song Changming defeated the masked attacker and captured him, while Liu Dingsheng promised Song Changming a two-hundred-year-old mountain ginseng.
• Ge Tai accused Liu Dingsheng of killing his family, but Liu Ziwen explained that bandits had murdered the county magistrate’s family before Liu Dingsheng wiped out the gang.
• Liu Dingsheng let Ge Tai go to investigate the truth, and Song Changming later lost their chess game before returning home.
• A severe drought and grain shortages spread across the Great Han Dynasty, and the Imperial Court ignored appeals for relief.
• The Martial Alliance rose in the north and the Ideal Kingdom in the south, further eroding Imperial Court control.
• Song Ping'an drove off grain thieves at the Song Residence, where Song Changming warned him to keep their grain stores secret.

Song Changming navigated the drought and political turmoil while maintaining his household and supporting the Changming Association. Two years later, he ambushed He Bo near a harbor to take the Mist Gold he carried.

• Song Changming accepted a weekly delivery of wild game and discussed the drought, unrest, and Rebel Armies with his family.
• Song Changming received Liang Zhaolong's report on the Changming Association and wrote him a detailed reply with advice and money.
• Two years passed as conflict continued across the realm, and heavy rain fell for several days around Donglai Commandery City.
• He Bo rode toward the harbor after escaping an attack, believing a gang mole had exposed him.
• Song Changming wounded He Bo with a thrown saber and revealed he had come for the Mist Gold in He Bo's possession.

Song Changming defeated He Bo, took his Mist Gold, and killed him before an unknown Martial Arts Master ambushed him in the rain. After exchanging blows with Yan Shu, Song Changming recognized the Beast Hide Yan Shu revealed.

• Song Changming defeated He Bo and seized his Mist Gold after He Bo admitted he had dredged it up from the sea.
• Song Changming killed He Bo and threw his body into the river, then noticed a figure watching him from a nearby slope.
• Yan Shu ambushed Song Changming with twin shortswords, and the two fought while assessing each other's martial arts.
• Song Changming asked whether Yan Shu was from the Dinghai Water Gang, but Yan Shu instead showed him a yellow-and-white Beast Hide.
• Song Changming recognized the Beast Hide and realized why Yan Shu had sought him out.

Song Changming defeated and killed Yan Shu, recovering the two missing Beast Hide map pieces and completing his treasure map. After studying its unreadable symbols, he asked Liu Dingsheng whether he could obtain a Ninth Realm Body Refining Technique, and Liu Dingsheng said such techniques could be acquired through hidden channels.

• Yan Shu attacked Song Changming to seize the Beast Hide map, but Song Changming revealed his Eighth Realm strength and overpowered him.
• Song Changming pursued the injured Yan Shu, recovered two map pieces from him, and killed him.
• Song Changming returned to the Song Residence, joined his three map pieces, and found that their symbols resembled an unfamiliar scripture.
• Song Changming showed Liu Dingsheng the Mist Gold and asked about acquiring a Ninth Realm Body Refining Technique.
• Liu Dingsheng explained that complete Body Refining Techniques could be obtained from people forced to sell inherited manuals.

Song Changming asked Liu Dingsheng to obtain three Ninth Realm Body Refining Technique manuals and identify the blades taken from a treasure-snatcher, then showed him a reassembled treasure map. Liu Dingsheng suspected the blades belonged to a Dark Night Pavilion assassin and traced the map to an Ancient Abyss Kingdom legacy, while Song Changming left him to seek help deciphering it.

• Song Changming arranged to trade Mist Gold for Body Refining Technique manuals, and Liu Dingsheng explained that Song only needed the written manuals rather than a master’s guidance.
• Liu Dingsheng identified the short swords as northern craftsmanship and suspected their owner was an Eighth Realm assassin from the Dark Night Pavilion, whose businesslike ways made revenge unlikely.
• Song Changming showed Liu Dingsheng the reassembled treasure map, and Liu Dingsheng recognized it as an Ancient Abyss Kingdom legacy written in an unfamiliar tribal script.
• Liu Dingsheng offered to ask old friends to interpret the map, while Song Changming departed to await news and the manuals.
• Song Changming reflected that his Ox Demon Art had reached the Eighth Realm and his other three Body Refinement paths had reached the Sixth Realm, making him powerful enough to challenge an ordinary Extreme Realm powerhouse.

Song Changming protected himself and Song Ping'an from conscription, celebrated Father Song raising a four-marked Azure Water Silkworm, and obtained new body-refinement techniques. After learning the treasure map led to a secret art rather than a Martial Art Manual, he brought home its translation and began studying the Blood Burst Secret Technique.

• Song Changming reassured Father Song and Mother Song that he would handle the conscription, then used a jug of Jade Brew to persuade Liang Chuanshan to remove his and Song Ping'an's names from the list.
• Song Ping'an discovered that an Azure Water Silkworm had shed its skin with four markings, and Father Song celebrated the silkworm-raising breakthrough and its potential profits.
• Song Changming received three Extreme Realm Body Refining Techniques and added them to his panel after studying them for two days.
• Liu Dingsheng told Song Changming that the treasure map had been deciphered but recorded a secret art, not a Martial Art Manual.
• Song Changming took the translated map home and began studying the Blood Burst Secret Technique.

Song Changming mastered a dangerous secret art that greatly increased his strength at the cost of his Qi and Blood, then learned that the Imperial Court’s army was advancing on Donglai Commandery. He arranged possible escape plans for his family and relatives with Liu Dingsheng and Liang Zhaolong as the war’s outcome remained uncertain.

• Song Changming learned the secret art, practiced it for over a month, and found that it temporarily increased his strength while depleting his Qi and Blood.
• Liu Dingsheng sparred with Song Changming, praised the secret art’s power, and warned him that the Imperial Court’s army was invading the southern Seven Commanderies, including Donglai.
• Liu Dingsheng told Song Changming he might leave if the fighting intensified, and Song Changming arranged for his family and close acquaintances to join Liu’s party if necessary.
• Liang Zhaolong sent Song Changming a warning and offered to prepare an escape route, and Song Changming asked him to arrange backup help for his parents and third sister’s family.
• Song Changming sent his reply through Song Ping’an and kept his decision to leave Donglai open until the situation became clearer.

Chu Huai arrived in Donglai Commandery with a royal decree and took command as the Imperial Court's army approached. After Donglai's forces suffered repeated defeats, a sudden great fire changed the course of the fighting.

• Xiong Dangshan led three hundred cavalry into the prefectural city, and the guards recognized Chu Huai's royal procession after he forced his way through the gates.
• Chu Huai presented his royal father's decree to Li Yan and the commandery officials, placing Donglai Commandery under his command and ordering them to resist the approaching enemy.
• Li Yan and Zhuang Ren privately resented losing authority but agreed they still had to defend Donglai Commandery against the Imperial Court's army.
• The Imperial Court's army entered Donglai Commandery, captured Qinghe County, and began probing clashes with the Fifth Prince's forces near the Clear River.
• Liu Dingsheng predicted the Imperial Court would take Donglai Commandery and prepared to flee, while Song Changming listened during their Go game.
• Donglai's troops suffered repeated defeats and retreated until a sudden great fire changed the situation.

After the Fifth Prince’s victory in Donglai Commandery, his harsh conscription and grain requisitions drove the people toward unrest. Lu Zheng revealed that Gu Wenhui would support none of the five Princes, leaving Song Changming to grasp their ambition to seize power themselves.

• The Fifth Prince’s forces burned the Imperial Court army’s supplies, cut its rear supply route, and drove it from Donglai Commandery.
• Gu Wenhui learned that all seven commanderies faced severe hardship and sent Lu Zheng with a letter for Prefect Li, while asking him to assess Liu Dingsheng and Song Changming.
• Song Ping'an cultivated saber intent during practice with Song Changming, who had reached the eighth realm.
• Lu Zheng asked about Liu Dingsheng’s strength, but Song Changming refused to discuss Senior Liu’s affairs.
• Song Changming criticized the Fifth Prince’s rule, and Lu Zheng said Gu Wenhui believed none of the five Princes deserved the throne and would support none of them.

Song Changming weighed Lu Zheng’s offer to join a plot to assassinate Chu Huai, while County Governor Li Yan made a decision after reading a letter. Chu Huai rejected Xiong Dangshan’s warnings and ordered harsher requisitions, deepening the crisis in Donglai Commandery.

• Song Changming refused to join Gu Wenhui’s cause but considered Lu Zheng’s offer of a Martial Art Manual and Five-Hundred-Year-Old Ginseng for helping kill Chu Huai.
• Song Changming hesitated over the assassination plan because of its dangers and his distrust of Gu Wenhui, while Lu Zheng left without forcing an answer.
• Liu Dingsheng watched Lu Zheng depart and lamented that he was too old and ill to take part in the plan.
• Li Yan read a letter and sat through the night before making his decision at dawn.
• Xiong Dangshan warned Chu Huai that unrest was likely to worsen and urged him to end forced requisitions and adopt policies to benefit the people.
• Chu Huai rejected Xiong Dangshan’s advice and ordered troops to suppress dissent, intensify the requisitioning of grain and soldiers, and put the elderly and children to work.

Song Changming reconsidered joining the struggle for a Martial Art Manual, then rushed to the Song Residence after learning soldiers were attacking his family. He arrived as Zhou Ao was about to kill the family’s dogs and knocked the officer back with a thrown spear.

• Liu Dingsheng warned Song Changming that rare opportunities to obtain a Martial Art Manual could be lost through excessive caution, and Song Changming reflected on his hesitation.
• Liu Ziwen told Song Changming that armored soldiers were looting San Hutong and had taken elderly people away, prompting Song Changming to hurry home.
• At the Song Residence, Song Ping'an protected Father Song and Mother Song while Big Yellow and Big White fought the soldiers and Zhou Ao.
• Zhou Ao wounded Big Yellow and prepared to kill both dogs, while the soldiers terrorized the residents of San Hutong.
• Song Changming rode into the hutong, saw the dogs being attacked, and hurled a spear that Zhou Ao barely blocked.

Song Changming fought off Zhou Ao and his soldiers when they attacked the Song Residence, then agreed to join Lu Zheng’s operation against the Young Prince. After recovering at home with his family and dogs, Song Changming received word that the operation was about to begin.

• Song Changming pinned Zhou Ao to a courtyard pillar with thrown sabers after the officer’s soldiers attacked his family and injured Big Yellow and Big White.
• Lu Zheng persuaded Song Changming to spare Zhou Ao for now, promising to keep the military from troubling him, and Song Changming agreed to join the operation against the Young Prince.
• Song Ping'an treated the dogs, while Liang Chuanshan and the patrol guards checked on the Song family and condemned the military’s overreach.
• The soldiers continued plundering the city, but they left the Song Residence alone, and Big Yellow and Big White began recovering.
• After several days of training at home, Song Changming received word from Lu Zheng that the operation was about to begin.