Chapter Summaries

Japanese assassins attacked Huang Manor, but Huang Shaojie swiftly defeated two attackers and knocked Watanabe unconscious. Koizumi’s underground ambush missed, and Huang Shaojie faced the earth ninja as the battle continued.

• Huang Shaojie, Xiao Qiuyue, and Wu Zhen woke when Eight Lord alerted Huang Manor to intruders.
• Watanabe sent two Japanese swordsmen to attack Huang Shaojie from both sides.
• Huang Shaojie killed both swordsmen with a single saber strike.
• Watanabe attacked Huang Shaojie with his palms, but Huang Shaojie’s Dragon Subduing Palm sent him crashing through a pavilion and knocked him unconscious.
• Koizumi burst from beneath the rockery to stab Huang Shaojie, but Huang Shaojie had already leaped clear of the attack.

Huang Shaojie killed the four Japanese assassins who attacked Huang Manor, though Watanabe committed suicide before he could be questioned. The next morning, Niu Ren praised Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue and mistakenly assumed they had become a couple.

• Huang Shaojie effortlessly killed Koizumi and the other Japanese assassins who attacked Huang Manor.
• Huang Shaojie woke Watanabe and questioned him, but Watanabe bit a Poison Pill and died before revealing any information.
• Huang Shaojie had the servants bury the four corpses in a pit for later disposal.
• Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue told Niu Ren that they had killed all four assassins and that no one at Huang Manor had been injured.
• Niu Ren teased Huang Shaojie and Xiao Qiuyue about spending the New Year together, while Xiao Qiuyue insisted they were only colleagues.

Huang Shaojie’s defeat of the Dongsheng Merchant Association’s leaders earned him praise and a recommendation for promotion, while he and Xiao Qiuyue faced teasing over her staying at Huang Manor. That night, the system rewarded him with the Wind God Leg’s final three forms.

• Niu Ren and the Imperial Guard officers inspected the corpses at Huang Manor and confirmed that President Ma and key Dongsheng Merchant Association members had been killed.
• Niu Ren praised Huang Shaojie and promised to recommend him for Commander Li’s position, and Huang Manor hosted the officers for a celebratory banquet.
• Commander Zhao and the other officers teased Xiao Qiuyue about spending the New Year at Huang Manor, leaving her and Huang Shaojie awkward.
• The system rewarded Huang Shaojie with the Wind God Leg’s final three forms for killing Watanabe and his subordinates.

Huang Shaojie tested the final forms of the Wind God Leg, while the Witch God Sect discussed its plans to restore Western Shu and the missing princess. As Lantern Festival approached, Huang Shaojie broke through to the Grandmaster Stage.

• Huang Shaojie used the Wind God Leg’s final three forms and wrecked part of the courtyard, prompting Xiao Qiuyue to ask about his martial art and Huang Baiwan to dismiss the damage.
• Duan Changsheng told Xuan Wuji that the Imperial Guard had destroyed the Five Lakes Association after discovering its theft of tax silver, and Xuan Wuji sentenced him to three months of confinement.
• Xuan Wuji and the Witch God Sect elders discussed preparing an uprising and searching for the missing princess of Western Shu, who would now be twenty-one if alive.
• Xiao Qiuyue returned to her courtyard after staying at Huang Manor, while Huang Shaojie continued his daily check-ins and martial training.
• Huang Shaojie circulated the Wind God Leg’s inner cultivation method for two hours and broke through the barrier to the Grandmaster Stage.

Huang Shaojie broke through to the Grandmaster Stage, while his family visited Mount Putuo Temple for the Lantern Festival. As the family left, two armed men attacked them, and Wu Zhen killed both with the Wind God Leg.

• Huang Shaojie broke through to the Grandmaster Stage and tested his strengthened Wind God Leg outside the city.
• Huang Baiwan, Madam Huang, Xiao He, Wu Zhen, and Eight Lord went to Mount Putuo Temple to offer incense.
• Huang Baiwan donated fifty taels of silver, and the family and their servants prayed before the Buddha.
• After the group left, the yellow-robed monk signaled two novice monks to change clothes and leave the temple.
• Two hooded attackers ambushed the group at the foot of the mountain, and Wu Zhen killed them with his kicks.

Wu Zhen killed two masked bandits who turned out to be monks from Mount Putuo Temple, prompting Huang Shaojie to rush to his parents’ aid. After learning the monks were powerful martial artists, Huang Shaojie prepared to raid the temple while suspecting the attack had a deeper cause than robbery.

• Wu Zhen killed two bandits who had attacked Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang, then discovered both were bald and recognized them as monks from Mount Putuo Temple.
• Wu Zhen sent Eight Lord to the Imperial Guard Office to summon Huang Shaojie, who rode to the scene with several officers.
• Huang Shaojie reunited with his parents and heard that Wu Zhen had recognized the dead men from the temple.
• Huang Shaojie ordered Wu Zhen to escort his parents home and announced that he would raid Mount Putuo Temple.
• Wu Zhen warned Huang Shaojie that the two monks had cultivation no lower than the Xiantian Eighth Level, leaving Huang Shaojie puzzled about why such powerful men would risk robbery for a little silver.

Huang Shaojie deduced that Japanese pirates from Mount Putuo Temple had tried to kill his parents and arranged for the Imperial Guard to surround the temple. As Niu Ren mobilized his men, Huang Shaojie confronted Nakamura at the foot of the mountain.

• Huang Shaojie inferred from Wu Zhen's spoken wish that the attackers were Japanese pirates hiding in Mount Putuo Temple.
• Huang Shaojie sent his family home with Wu Zhen, ordered a constable to report to Commander Niu, and had the remaining constables watch the mountain.
• Ikeda grew uneasy when the two disguised warriors failed to return and sent Nakamura down the mountain to investigate.
• Niu Ren received Huang Shaojie's report and ordered the Imperial Guard to assemble and surround Mount Putuo Temple.
• Huang Shaojie confronted Nakamura at the mountain's foot and asked whether he was searching for the two captured monks.

Huang Shaojie helped Commander Niu’s Imperial Guards surround Mount Putuo Temple and expose the Japanese pirates hiding there. As the battle erupted, Huang killed Ikeda and rushed to intercept Yagyu Naiko, who killed a squad leader while fleeing.

• Huang Shaojie wounded Kimura and told Commander Niu that Japanese pirates were hiding in Mount Putuo Temple, prompting Niu to surround the temple.
• Ikeda attacked a Probationary Commander of a Hundred, but Huang Shaojie killed Ikeda with a powerful kick and saved the officer.
• Commander Zhao joined the fight and killed the Japanese pirates disguised as novice monks.
• Tojo Takeyuki and Yagyu Naiko fled from the rear courtyard, and Commander Niu pursued Tojo while Huang Shaojie raced after Yagyu.
• Yagyu Naiko killed the squad leader who tried to stop her, while Huang Shaojie closed in.

Huang Shaojie stopped Yagyu Naiko from escaping, but she took her own life rather than be captured. Niu Ren fought Tojo Takeyuki to a standstill before their palm clash wounded both men and Tojo fled toward the back mountain.

• Huang Shaojie kicked Yagyu Naiko down and shattered her pelvis, but she stabbed herself and died rather than return to Japan.
• Tojo Takeyuki disarmed Commander Liu, shattered his arm with a palm strike, and sent him flying.
• Niu Ren attacked Tojo Takeyuki, and the two exchanged more than a hundred sword strikes without either gaining the advantage.
• Niu Ren and Tojo Takeyuki met each other's palm strikes, and both were injured by the clash.
• Tojo Takeyuki kicked off the ground and fled toward the back mountain.

Huang Shaojie crippled and captured Tojo Takeyuki with a single Wind God Leg attack, earning the awe of the Imperial Guard. Back at the office, Huang received a promotion, and Tojo confessed that he was Japan’s highest commander stationed in Suzhou.

• Huang Shaojie caught Tojo Takeyuki as he fled and defeated him with Divine Wind's Furious Howl, then sealed his acupoints.
• Niu Ren and the other Imperial Guard officers praised Huang, while Huang credited Niu Ren’s earlier strike to preserve his commander’s dignity.
• Niu Ren ordered Commander Zhao to search Mount Putuo Temple for other Japanese pirates and important information.
• Niu Ren told Huang that Commander Ling had promoted him to Probationary Commander of a Hundred and presented him with uniforms and a token.
• A dungeon Banner Officer reported that Tojo Takeyuki had confessed to being Japan’s highest commander stationed in Suzhou.

After Huang Shaojie helped wipe out the Japanese spy network in Suzhou, Niu Ren rewarded him and promised to report his merits to Commander Ling. Back at Huang Manor, Huang Shaojie celebrated his promotion before receiving the second level of the Indestructible Vajra Technique.

• Niu Ren ordered the captured Japanese spies tortured for more information and said any who had none would be executed.
• Niu Ren praised Huang Shaojie for his role in the Mount Putuo Temple raid, promised to report his achievements to Commander Ling, and awarded him two thousand taels of silver.
• Huang Shaojie left the Imperial Guard office wearing his new Probationary Commander of a Hundred uniform and carried his reward silver home.
• Huang Shaojie told Huang Baiwan and Madam Huang that he had been promoted for killing Japanese pirates and offered to return the silver Huang Baiwan had spent greasing the wheels.
• The system rewarded Huang Shaojie with the second level of the Indestructible Vajra Technique, making him immune to poison and unharmed by attacks from anyone below a Great Grandmaster.

Ling Xiaotian read Niu Ren’s report from Suzhou and considered transferring Huang Shaojie to the capital to test his abilities. More than a month later, a woman in red drained Chen Bo’s vitality, while two men in black attacked Zhang Manor and Old Six headed for a crying child.

• Ling Xiaotian read Niu Ren’s report about the purge of Japanese pirate strongholds in Suzhou and noted Niu Ren’s praise of Huang Shaojie.
• Ling Xiaotian wondered whether Huang Shaojie’s rapid promotions came from talent or connections and decided to consider bringing him to the Capital City.
• Mei Niang seduced Chen Bo, drained his vitality, and left him gaunt and near death.
• Old Two and Old Six broke into Zhang Manor, where Old Six killed the Manor Guard Captain and the guards while Old Two went after the women.
• Old Six heard a child crying and rushed toward the room, eager to reach the child.

After the Seven Great Villains of Lingnan committed multiple atrocities in Suzhou, Niu Ren assigned Huang Shaojie to hunt them down alone. Huang Shaojie inspected Magistrate Zhang's massacre site and followed the villains' tracks over the courtyard wall.

• Niu Ren told the Imperial Guard officers about the slaughter of Magistrate Zhang's household and other crimes, including a woman in red draining five young men.
• Zhao and Liu identified the crimes as the work of the Seven Great Villains, and Niu Ren ordered Huang Shaojie to pursue them.
• Xiao Qiuyue volunteered to accompany Huang Shaojie, but Niu Ren gave her another assignment and sent Huang Shaojie alone with portraits of the villains.
• Huang Shaojie memorized the portraits, informed his mother he was leaving on official business, and rode to Zhang Manor to investigate.
• Huang Shaojie examined the corpses and followed footprints and dripping blood to the courtyard wall, then vaulted over it.

Huang Shaojie tracked the fleeing villains toward Lingnan and encountered Flirty Butterfly Hao Bobo disguised as a wounded woman. He pretended to help her, intending to use her to find Gao Wan and Jin Daya, while Hao Bobo secretly decided to drain his cultivation.

• Huang Shaojie followed bloodstains and footprints out of Suzhou but lost the trail on the road toward Lingnan.
• Hao Bobo appeared in a yellow dress, claimed a venomous snake had bitten her backside, and asked Huang Shaojie to suck out the poison.
• Huang Shaojie recognized Hao Bobo and chose not to kill her so he could use her to draw out Gao Wan and Jin Daya.
• Hao Bobo tried to seduce Huang Shaojie, but he refused to suck the poison and agreed to take her to a physician instead.
• Huang Shaojie lifted Hao Bobo onto his horse and rode toward a nearby town as she sensed his First Rank Grandmaster cultivation and prepared a sneak attack.

Huang Shaojie exposed Hao Bobo's attempt to kill him, defeated and captured her, then forced her to lead him to Gao Wan and Jin Daya. Hao Bobo revealed that the two villains operated an inn at Ten Mile Slope near the entrance to Lingnan.

• Hao Bobo tried to seal Huang Shaojie's martial arts, then attacked him with a dagger, but neither attack could penetrate his body.
• Hao Bobo fled, but Huang Shaojie caught her and kicked her down, leaving her badly injured.
• Huang Shaojie sealed Hao Bobo's martial arts and identified her as Wandering Butterfly Hao Bobo, then ordered her to take him to Gao Wan and Jin Daya.
• Hao Bobo tried to seduce Huang Shaojie, so he cut her little finger and threatened further mutilation until she agreed to obey.
• Hao Bobo told Huang Shaojie that Gao Wan and Jin Daya ran a shady inn at Ten Mile Slope, three or four hundred li from their location.

Huang Shaojie took Hao Bobo to an inn, where she flirted with the Three Wolves of Meiling while he ignored them. When the wolves threatened him and tried to keep Hao Bobo, Huang Shaojie killed one with a flick of his hand, leaving the other two facing him.

• Huang Shaojie rode with Hao Bobo to a town and checked into an inn, giving her only plain noodles while he ate and drank.
• Three burly men invited Hao Bobo to their table, and Huang Shaojie allowed her to go with them.
• Hao Bobo drank and flirted with the three men while Huang Shaojie continued his meal without reacting.
• One of the men grabbed Hao Bobo and another declared that she would spend the night with the Three Wolves of Meiling.
• Huang Shaojie killed one of the Three Wolves with a wave of true qi, and the surviving two drew their weapons but hesitated to attack.

Huang Shaojie killed two of the Three Wolves of Meiling, gained a new technique, and kept Hao Bobo captive as they continued toward Nanling. Hao Bobo directed him to Jin Daya’s black inn at Ten Mile Slope while plotting to drug and overpower him.

• Huang Shaojie let the two burly men’s blades break against his neck, then killed them with a single slap after they begged for mercy.
• Huang Shaojie ordered the innkeeper to bury the Three Wolves of Meiling, cultivated in his room, and received the Bone Dislocation and Tendon Splitting Technique as a reward for killing them.
• Hao Bobo tried to share Huang Shaojie’s bed, but he kicked her to the floor, restrained her, and took the valuables he found on her.
• The next morning, Huang Shaojie and Hao Bobo left the inn and continued their journey toward Nanling.
• At a three-way fork, Hao Bobo pointed Huang Shaojie toward Ten Mile Slope and Jin Daya’s black inn, planning to use Sleeping Powder to escape.

Huang Shaojie used Hao Bobo to find Child Eater Jin Daya and Debauched Fiend Gao Wan at the Fragrant Meat Inn, then swiftly defeated and captured them. He revealed himself as an Imperial Guard Hundred Household Officer and demanded that they lead him to the other four villains, while Jin Daya challenged him to face them.

• Huang Shaojie arrived at the Fragrant Meat Inn with Hao Bobo and recognized the disguised Jin Daya and Gao Wan.
• Huang Shaojie struck Jin Daya with his Dragon Subduing Palm and broke Gao Wan's ribs, then sealed both men's cultivation.
• Jin Daya and Gao Wan blamed Hao Bobo for leading Huang Shaojie to them, while she blamed Gao Wan's slaughter of a magistrate's family for bringing the authorities after them.
• Huang Shaojie identified himself as an Imperial Guard Hundred Household Officer and demanded that the three villains take him to their four remaining companions.
• Jin Daya doubted Huang Shaojie could defeat all seven villains, and Huang Shaojie invited them to take him to the others and see if they could kill him.

Huang Shaojie forced Jin Daya, Gao Wan, and Hao Bobo to take him to their fellow Seven Great Villains, while their attempt to drug him failed. He robbed Jin Daya and Gao Wan of their hidden wealth, leaving them injured and terrified.

• Jin Daya, Gao Wan, and Hao Bobo agreed to take Huang Shaojie to their leader and invited him into their inn for the night.
• Jin Daya and Gao Wan prepared food and wine laced with Sleeping Powder, but Huang Shaojie drank without being affected and refused to eat the meat.
• Huang Shaojie demanded the inn’s wealth, and Jin Daya and Gao Wan first brought him only a small amount of silver.
• Huang Shaojie cut off one ear from each man, then cut off their other ears when they produced only a few chests of treasure.
• Jin Daya and Gao Wan finally brought out chests containing their accumulated gold, silver, jewels, banknotes, and ornaments worth seventy to eighty thousand taels.

Huang Shaojie forced Jin Daya and Gao Wan to surrender their treasure and reveal that the Seven Great Villains’ lair was near Nanyue, then set out with them to find it. On the road to Nanyue, a Red-Clothed Female Ghost appeared before Lord Li’s caravan and terrorized his guards and family.

• Huang Shaojie took Jin Daya and Gao Wan’s treasure and learned that their remaining companions’ lair was somewhere in the mountains near Nanyue City.
• Huang Shaojie restrained the three villains for the night, then made them carry the treasure and lead him toward Nanyue the next morning.
• Lord Li traveled toward Nanyue with his family, guards, and a carriage carrying valuables from his years in the capital.
• A Red-Clothed Female Ghost floated out of the forest and frightened Lord Li’s guards and family as the caravan crossed a wooded stretch of road.