Chapter Summaries

Huang Shaojie caught and redirected Great Magician Adrian’s meteorites, saving the gathered crowd and defeating the Persian Envoy Group. Prince William conceded and was escorted to kneel before Emperor Xuande, who promised Huang Shaojie a generous reward.

• Huang Shaojie used Shifting Form and Changing Shadow to catch and guide Adrian’s meteorites into the arena, where they crushed Adrian.
• Huang Shaojie extinguished the meteorites with a Heavenly Frost Fist as the commoners, Emperor Xuande, and the others marveled at his feat.
• Huang Shaojie asked Prince William whether he still wished to compete, and William conceded defeat on behalf of the Persian Envoy Group.
• Huang Shaojie ordered the Imperial Guards to escort Prince William and his officials to kneel before Emperor Xuande.
• Huang Shaojie went to the city wall and reported his victory, and Emperor Xuande promised to reward him handsomely.

Huang Shaojie was made Marquis Wushen and Commander of the Imperial Guard after his victory, while Prince William and the Persian envoys fulfilled their wager by bowing before Emperor Xuande. At the victory banquet Huang Shaojie won further favor, and Dongfang Bubai and Nangong Feixue went to his manor to find him.

• Emperor Xuande granted Huang Shaojie the title Marquis Wushen, a python robe, land, and a fief, then appointed him Commander of the Imperial Guard.
• Xiang Qingyang pressed Prince William to honor his wager, and he and the Persian envoys knelt before Emperor Xuande.
• At the victory banquet, Huang Shaojie redirected ministers' praise toward Emperor Xuande, pleasing the Emperor and further impressing Princess Pingyang.
• Dongfang Bubai and Nangong Feixue asked at the Northern Pacification Office for Huang Shaojie's residence, and a guard led them to Huang Manor.
• Ah Gui and Xiao He stopped playing in the snow when the visitors arrived at Huang Manor's gates.

Nangong Feixue and Dongfang Bubai arrived at Huang Manor with Cui'er, and both revealed that they had come to see Huang Shaojie. Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang welcomed them and arranged for them to stay, leaving the two women under the same roof as their son.

• An Imperial Guard escort brought Nangong Feixue, Dongfang Bubai, and Cui'er to Huang Manor after Nangong Feixue claimed to be Huang Shaojie's cousin.
• Nangong Feixue admitted to Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang that she had met Huang Shaojie in Seven Heroes Town and had lied about being his cousin to reach him.
• Nangong Feixue introduced Dongfang Bubai as the Eastern Cult Master of the Divine Moon Cult, and Dongfang Bubai said Huang Shaojie had saved her life and that she intended to stay at Huang Manor.
• Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang welcomed Nangong Feixue and Dongfang Bubai, and Madam Huang ordered Qiuju to prepare rooms and tell the kitchen to make a feast.

After defeating the Persian Envoy Group, Huang Shaojie received Buddha's Palm and reached the peak of Beginner Great Grandmaster. Back at Huang Manor, he reunited with Nangong Feixue and Dongfang Bubai, whose formidable presence intimidated Vermilion Bird and Nangong Feixue.

• The system rewarded Huang Shaojie with Buddha's Palm, raising his cultivation to the peak of Beginner Great Grandmaster, though he could not yet use its final form.
• Huang Shaojie learned that Dongfang Bubai and Nangong Feixue had come to Huang Manor and reassured Vermilion Bird that Dongfang Bubai was his friend.
• Huang Shaojie went to the East Courtyard with Vermilion Bird, where Nangong Feixue greeted him and said she had come after waiting months for him.
• Dongfang Bubai emerged and released a powerful Great Grandmaster aura, causing Vermilion Bird to retreat and Nangong Feixue to step away from Huang Shaojie.

Huang Shaojie reunited with Dongfang Bubai, spent the night with her and the other three women, and enjoyed breakfast with them and his parents. After learning he had been named Marquis Wushen and Commander of the Imperial Guard, he went to headquarters and summoned senior officers for a meeting.

• Dongfang Bubai arrived at Huang Manor, joined Vermilion Bird, Nangong Feixue, and Xiao He, and spent the night with Huang Shaojie.
• Eight Lord watched the East Courtyard and reported at breakfast that Huang Shaojie had stayed up all night with the four women.
• Huang Shaojie and the four women joined Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang for breakfast, where Nangong Feixue recounted his victories and Vermilion Bird revealed his new titles.
• Huang Shaojie rode to the Imperial Guard Headquarters, where the guards and assembled troops greeted him as Commander.
• Huang Shaojie ordered officials of Centurion rank and above from the four Town Suppression Offices to gather for a meeting.

After becoming Commander of the Imperial Guard and Marquis Wushen, Huang Shaojie attended a private banquet hosted by Princess Pingyang. As they drank together, Xiang Qingyang asked whether he had someone he loved.

• Huang Shaojie took his place as Commander of the Imperial Guard and received greetings from the Pacification Commissioners and Imperial Guard officials.
• After work, Huang Shaojie received Xiang Qingyang’s invitation to a banquet at Sleeping Phoenix Residence and rode there alone.
• Chengkong welcomed Huang Shaojie and led him to Xiang Qingyang, who had prepared a private dinner for them.
• Xiang Qingyang congratulated Huang Shaojie for defeating the Persian Envoy Group and explained how his victory could deter Persia from attacking Great Chu.
• After they drank more than ten cups of wine, Xiang Qingyang asked Huang Shaojie whether he had someone he loved.

Xiang Qingyang ordered Huang Shaojie to massage her shoulders, while Miyajima Ayaka met with Japanese agents plotting to assassinate him. After warning them of Huang Shaojie’s immense strength, she learned they planned to strike at Huang Manor in three nights.

• Xiang Qingyang asked Huang Shaojie whether he had a woman he loved, then ordered him to knead her shoulders and neck.
• Miyajima Ayaka hypnotized the sleeping Emperor Xuande and secretly went to an abandoned temple outside the Capital City.
• Miyajima Ayaka met Yagyū Mitsuyoshi and Kamiya Sekiden, who had come to Great Chu to assassinate Huang Shaojie.
• Miyajima Ayaka told the two Japanese agents that Huang Shaojie had advanced rapidly and could be stronger than an Intermediate Great Grandmaster.
• Yagyū Mitsuyoshi and Kamiya Sekiden planned to infiltrate Huang Manor and attack Huang Shaojie in three nights.

Miyajima Ayaka planned to frame Great Chu for the deaths of the Persian Envoy Group and Huang Shaojie, while Emperor Xuande approved Princess Pingyang’s request to reinforce Annam and proposed Huang Shaojie as her Imperial Son-in-Law. As Prince William’s envoy group left the Capital City, he worried that word of his humiliation would ruin his bid for the Persian throne.

• Miyajima Ayaka ordered Yagyū Mitsuyoshi and Kamiya Sekiden to kill the Persian Envoy Group after it left the Capital City, then kill Huang Shaojie, so Persia would blame Great Chu.
• Princess Pingyang urged Emperor Xuande to station three hundred thousand troops in Annam, and he ordered two hundred thousand additional soldiers sent under Chou Sihai.
• Emperor Xuande proposed Huang Shaojie as Princess Pingyang’s Imperial Son-in-Law, and she left the decision to him.
• Three days later, Prince William led the Persian Envoy Group west out of the Capital City and feared that news of his defeat and having knelt before Emperor Xuande would destroy his claim to the throne.

Prince William and most of the Persian Envoy Group were killed on the road, while some envoys escaped. Huang Shaojie received an imperial decree making him Princess Pingyang’s Imperial Son-in-Law, then learned of the massacre and rode to report it to the emperor.

• More than a dozen black-clad Imperial Guard men attacked the Persian Envoy Group and slaughtered its warriors.
• Prince William and the Samurai protecting him were cut down, though several envoys escaped into the forest.
• An Fu delivered an imperial decree naming Huang Shaojie Princess Pingyang’s Imperial Son-in-Law and ordering their marriage.
• A Centurion reported that the Persian Envoy Group had been slaughtered at Mafeng Ridge, seventy li west of the Capital City.
• Huang Shaojie ordered Azure Dragon to investigate and rode to the palace to report the massacre to the emperor.

Huang Shaojie reported the Persian Envoy Group’s massacre to Emperor Xuande, then investigated the scene and confirmed that Prince William had been killed. He concluded the slaughter was a deliberate act likely intended to provoke a conflict between Great Chu and Persia, but the culprit remained unidentified.

• An Fu interrupted Emperor Xuande and Immortal Aunt Lingbo’s cultivation to announce Huang Shaojie’s urgent report that the Persian Envoy Group had been massacred.
• Emperor Xuande ordered Huang Shaojie to uncover the truth and give Persia an explanation, then told him to call him Imperial Father.
• Huang Shaojie arrived at Mafeng Ridge and learned from Azure Dragon that Prince William’s body had been found cleaved in two.
• Huang Shaojie examined the scene and inferred that about a dozen highly skilled killers had swiftly slaughtered the group, while three people might have escaped.
• Huang Shaojie reasoned that the killers had no apparent motive of wealth or revenge and suggested that whoever benefited from the resulting conflict was the likeliest culprit.

After investigating the slaughter of the Persian Envoy Group, Huang Shaojie suspected Xuan Wuji and the Western Shu Restoration Organization had arranged it to provoke war between Persia and Great Chu. Back at Huang Manor, he revealed an Imperial Decree announcing his marriage to Princess Pingyang, delighting his parents and Vermilion Bird while devastating Nangong Feixue.

• Huang Shaojie told Azure Dragon that the Western Shu Remnants, Japan, and India were suspects in the Persian Envoy Group's murder, though he believed Xuan Wuji was most likely responsible.
• Huang Shaojie and the Imperial Guard searched around Mafeng Ridge for several hours but found no trace of the killers before returning to the Capital City.
• At dinner, Huang Shaojie revealed that the Imperial Decree ordered him to marry Princess Pingyang.
• Vermilion Bird celebrated the marriage decree, while Nangong Feixue feared she had lost her chance to marry or be intimate with Huang Shaojie.
• Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang rejoiced at their son's impending marriage to a princess, and Huang Baiwan placed the decree on the altar and kowtowed.

Japanese assassins launched a raid on Huang Manor to kill Huang Shaojie and seize his parents, but Lu Changkong and the others met them in the compound. Huang Shaojie confronted Yagyū Mitsuyoshi, an Intermediate Great Grandmaster, as the attack unfolded.

• Huang Shaojie reassured Vermilion Bird, Dongfang Bubai, Xiao He, and Nangong Feixue after the Emperor's decree made him Princess Pingyang's Imperial Son-in-Law.
• Yagyū Mitsuyoshi and Kamiya Sekiden planned to kill Huang Shaojie and capture his parents, ordering the other Japanese warriors and ninjas to attack his family.
• Huang Shaojie sensed the approaching experts while he and the four women were in the East Courtyard, and he and Dongfang Bubai rushed to respond.
• Masked attackers entered Huang Manor and wounded the guard captain and several guards before Lu Changkong killed three of them; Wu Zhen guarded Huang Baiwan and his wife.
• Yagyu Toshio attacked Lu Changkong, while Huang Shaojie faced Yagyū Mitsuyoshi and discovered that his opponent was an Intermediate Great Grandmaster.

Huang Shaojie defeated the Japanese assassins who attacked Huang Manor and captured Yagyū Mitsuyoshi and Kamiya Sekiden. He destroyed their Dantians, leaving them alive to be questioned for information.

• Yagyū Mitsuyoshi provoked Huang Shaojie and asked whether he had killed his sister, Yagyu Naiko, while Kamiya Sekiden prepared a poisoned sneak attack.
• Yagyū Mitsuyoshi attacked Huang Shaojie with a Cross Slash as Kamiya Sekiden struck from behind, and more than a dozen Japanese assassins raided Huang Manor.
• Dongfang Bubai swiftly defeated the Japanese assassins while Vermilion Bird guarded Nangong Feixue and Xiao He.
• Huang Shaojie vanished, sealed Yagyū Mitsuyoshi's acupoints, and evaded Kamiya Sekiden's attack, causing the two men's attacks to collide.
• Huang Shaojie sent Kamiya Sekiden flying with a Heavenly Frost Fist, pursued him underground, and sealed his acupoints.
• Huang Shaojie brought both men out of the ground and shattered their Dantians, destroying their martial arts.

After uncovering Immortal Aunt Lingbo’s identity as Japanese Imperial Consort Miyajima Ayaka, Huang Shaojie forced Kamiya Sekiden to confess and planned to expose her to Emperor Xuande. He kept watch outside Qingxiao Palace, where Ayaka was secretly poisoning the Emperor during their cultivation.

• Huang Shaojie searched Yagyū Mitsuyoshi’s soul and learned that Miyajima Ayaka was Immortal Aunt Lingbo, Japan’s top spy in the Capital City.
• Huang Shaojie took Kamiya Sekiden and the surviving Japanese prisoners to the Imperial Prison, where he tortured Kamiya until he agreed to confess Miyajima Ayaka’s identity.
• Huang Shaojie received two Lifespan Fruits from the system for solving the Persian Envoy Group murder and capturing Japanese fighters alive.
• Worried that Miyajima Ayaka might flee or attack Emperor Xuande, Huang Shaojie hid near Qingxiao Palace to watch for her.
• Immortal Aunt Lingbo gave Emperor Xuande pills containing slow-acting poison while cultivating with him for the fifth time that day.

Huang Shaojie brought Kamiya Sekiden’s confession to Emperor Xuande, revealing that Miyajima Ayaka was a Japanese spy who had poisoned the Emperor and plotted to kill Huang Shaojie. Miyajima Ayaka realized her identity had been exposed and feared she could not escape.

• Miyajima Ayaka continued drugging Emperor Xuande with aphrodisiacs and slow-acting poison as she prepared to leave the capital and return to Japan.
• After keeping watch outside Qingxiao Palace until dawn, Huang Shaojie entered the palace to see Emperor Xuande.
• Miyajima Ayaka was startled to see Huang Shaojie alive, then relaxed somewhat when he said he had urgent border news to report.
• Huang Shaojie gave Emperor Xuande Kamiya Sekiden’s confession, which identified Miyajima Ayaka as the Japanese Imperial Consort and spy.
• Emperor Xuande asked whether the confession was genuine, and Huang Shaojie swore that Miyajima Ayaka was Miyajima Ayaka.
• Miyajima Ayaka realized her identity had been exposed and considered fleeing, but feared Huang Shaojie would capture her.

Huang Shaojie exposed Miyajima Ayaka’s slow poisoning of Emperor Xuande and maneuvered her into revealing herself by taking the emperor hostage. After Huang Shaojie swiftly subdued her, Emperor Xuande accepted his explanation and called him Imperial Son-in-Law.

• Miyajima Ayaka accused Huang Shaojie of plotting to control Emperor Xuande, but Huang Shaojie warned the emperor that her pills contained aphrodisiacs and slow-acting poison.
• Miyajima Ayaka denied the accusation and claimed her pills would transform Emperor Xuande into an immortal, while Huang Shaojie threatened to take her to the Imperial Prison.
• Huang Shaojie pretended to seize Miyajima Ayaka, prompting her to take Emperor Xuande hostage and reveal her true intentions.
• Liu Jiankong and the other guards arrived but hesitated to attack while Miyajima Ayaka held Emperor Xuande.
• Huang Shaojie used Shifting Form and Changing Shadow to disable Miyajima Ayaka and throw her to the floor.
• Emperor Xuande questioned whether Huang Shaojie had deliberately allowed him to be taken hostage, then accepted Huang Shaojie’s explanation and told him to call him Imperial Father.

Huang Shaojie learned that Miyajima Ayaka had poisoned and weakened Emperor Xuande, then captured her and uncovered more information about Japan. After receiving Object Manipulation Flight as a reward, he tested the technique and flew from Huang Manor to the East Sea in half a shichen.

• Miyajima Ayaka admitted that she had increased the dose of Golden Spear Pills tenfold and secretly added slow-acting poison to Emperor Xuande’s pills.
• Emperor Xuande ordered Miyajima Ayaka to suffer death by a thousand cuts, and Huang Shaojie took her to the Imperial Prison and searched her soul.
• Huang Shaojie learned that Japan revered Indra, a mysterious figure said to have lived for fifteen hundred years, and resolved to attack Japan.
• The system rewarded Huang Shaojie with Object Manipulation Flight, which he mastered immediately.
• Huang Shaojie flew on the Full Moon Scimitar above Huang Manor before heading east and reaching the East Sea in half a shichen.

Huang Shaojie tested Object Manipulation Flight over the East Sea, then entertained his four wives by flying them on a bedsheet. Meanwhile, Xiang Qingyang lay awake worrying about Emperor Xuande’s illness and the succession crisis that could follow his death.

• Huang Shaojie flew over the East Sea and returned to Huang Manor, where his four wives questioned him about his trip.
• Huang Shaojie demonstrated Object Manipulation Flight by levitating a bedsheet and carrying the four women above Huang Manor and the mountains beyond the city.
• Huang Shaojie spent over an hour flying with the women before returning to Huang Manor at midnight.
• Xiang Qingyang lay awake in Spring Tranquility Palace, worried about Emperor Xuande’s health and the struggle Prince Qi and Prince Han might wage for the throne.

After Miyajima Ayaka and her fellow Japanese spies were executed, Japan’s Emperor ordered an invasion of Great Chu and sought an alliance with India. Emperor Xuande set Huang Shaojie and Xiang Qingyang’s wedding for the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month, and Huang Shaojie told his family the news.

• Xiang Qingyang reflected that she needed more time to build enough strength to claim the throne after Emperor Xuande died.
• Miyajima Ayaka, Yagyū Mitsuyoshi, and Kamiya Sekiden were publicly executed, while a Japanese spy sent a message about their deaths to Asō Ukyō.
• Asō Ukyō appeared before the Japanese Emperor, who ordered Yagyu Muneyoshi to lead three hundred thousand troops against Great Chu and sent an envoy to seek India’s support.
• Emperor Xuande summoned Huang Shaojie and Xiang Qingyang, and they agreed to marry on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month.
• Huang Shaojie told Huang Baiwan, Madam Huang, and the others that he and Xiang Qingyang would marry soon, prompting his parents to begin planning the wedding.

Huang Shaojie prepared the betrothal gifts and wedding for his marriage to Princess Pingyang, while Huang Baiwan celebrated his family’s rise to imperial favor. On Little New Year, Huang Shaojie led a grand wedding procession from Huang Manor toward the imperial palace.

• Huang Shaojie reassured Huang Baiwan that he would pay for the betrothal gifts, while Dongfang Bubai, Nangong Feixue, Vermilion Bird, and Xiao He toasted him.
• Huang Shaojie asked Shi Quan for the customary betrothal-gift list and sent an Imperial Guard officer to buy the items with three hundred thousand taels of silver.
• Huang Shaojie and Huang Baiwan delivered the gifts to Spring Tranquility Palace, where Emperor Xuande and the Empress welcomed them and hosted a banquet.
• Huang Baiwan directed the wedding preparations as the Ministry of Rites announced Princess Pingyang’s marriage throughout Great Chu.
• On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month, Huang Shaojie rode at the head of a grand procession escorting the bridal sedan from Huang Manor toward the imperial palace.