Chapter Summaries

Chen Sanshi survived an ambush in the Luotian Mountain Range, hunted a Fangtooth Tiger, and trained intensely before the Vanguard Selection. He began the selection confident in his newly improved Troop Command, though his Unity Spear Technique still needed a final push to break through.

• Chen Sanshi and his companions killed the Soldier Apes, while Tang Yingke arrived, claimed he had come hunting alone, and then left.
• Chen Sanshi spotted a powerful black aura deep in the Luotian Mountain Range, and Sun Buqi warned him that the area beyond Thirtyfold Mountain held terrifying venomous beasts.
• Chen Sanshi carried the Fangtooth Tiger back to his residence, butchered it, and used its meat to fuel days of intensive martial training.
• Chen Sanshi's Troop Command reached Minor Success, granting his troops a major boost in morale and combat power, while his Unity Spear Technique neared its next breakthrough.
• Gu Xinlan, Siqin, and Mohua saw Chen Sanshi off, and he rode Qianxun to the Eight Great Camps for the Vanguard Selection.

Chen Sanshi arrived at the vanguard selection after learning that Witch God Cult followers had killed disciples from two sects, then discovered that Yin Hanwen had withdrawn after being wounded by his arrow. As the first examination began, the officials debated the leading candidates’ chances and the value of Chen Sanshi’s Nine Dragon Physique, while Fang Qingyun realized the selection was tied to a dangerous plan affecting the Eight Great Camps and the realm.

• Chen Sanshi suspected that the Witch God Cult had a way to hide its followers after heart blood was taken from martial artists killed at Tongxuan Sect and Sunset Mountain Villa.
• Chen Sanshi confronted the injured Yin Hanwen, who claimed Witch God Cult followers had wounded him, and learned that the arrow wound matched the one Chen Sanshi had inflicted.
• Cao Fan and his followers dismissed Chen Sanshi’s soldiers and planned to stop him in the second examination, while Cao Fan acknowledged that his troops had trained well.
• Tang Yingke warned Chen Sanshi that someone had spoken with the person overseeing the second stage, then withdrew from the group as the vanguard selection began.
• Sun Xiangzong, Governor Liu, and Eunuch Hou discussed the candidates and the importance of bone structure, while Fang Qingyun sought evidence that Chen Sanshi’s Nine Dragon Physique could merit a Grade A.
• Fang Qingyun recognized that Chen Sanshi’s success was connected to a plan involving the Eight Great Camps and the fate of the realm.

Sun Xiangzong proposed expanding the Eight Great Camps and keeping his disciples in the north, while Chen Sanshi earned Grade A in the first vanguard test by maintaining formation against a beast tide. As Chen entered the second test, a dangerous formation-breaking challenge, he suspected Cao Fan might be behind the trouble Tang Yingke had warned him about.

• Sun Xiangzong told Governor Liu and Eunuch Hou that he intended to destroy two barbarian tribes, retain his disciples, and expand the Eight Great Camps to twelve, then sent his memorial to the emperor.
• Chen Sanshi inspected Sun Xiangzong’s unusual azure qi before leading his men through a cavalry charge and a beast tide without letting their formation collapse.
• The examiners awarded Chen Sanshi Grade A for the first test, while Xie Sishu received Grade C after failing to demonstrate troop leadership.
• Commander Li began the second test, in which candidates had to escape a forty-thousand-man Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation; several candidates were captured or earned low grades.
• Chen Sanshi entered the formation on a supplied horse with an unsharpened spear, prepared to face possible interference from Cao Fan.

Chen Sanshi broke through the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation, earning praise for finding its Life Gate, but his trial turned deadly when he discovered Organ Refining fighters had been secretly added. After killing the infiltrators, he exposed the sabotage before the examiners, and Sun Xiangzong ordered an investigation.

• Chen Sanshi identified the Life Gate and smashed through a shield that concealed the route out of the formation.
• Officials praised Chen Sanshi's military skill, while Sun Li watched from behind the curtains and then prepared to leave.
• Chen Sanshi's spear broke, but he used its wooden shaft to fight through the formation and charged into the Gate of Death.
• Chen Sanshi discovered that several Organ Refining fighters had joined the formation and were attacking him with lethal intent.
• Chen Sanshi killed the four hidden Organ Refining fighters and their troops, then officials recognized that the trial had been sabotaged.
• Sun Xiangzong ordered his subordinate to investigate who had tampered with the selection and bring the culprits to him.

Chen Sanshi earned first grade in the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation, exposing an attempt to sabotage the examination. Sun Xiangzong’s rivals tried to use the ensuing public inquiry to undermine his authority, but he revealed that he remained a fearsome Martial Saint and killed Ning Changqun.

• Bai Tingzhi accused Cao Fan of tampering with the formation, and officials restrained him for disrupting the examination.
• Chen Sanshi emerged with first grade, then presented evidence that men had been placed at the Gate of Death to kill him; the vanguard examination was suspended for an investigation.
• Fang Qingyun traced the plot to men from Yunzhong Camp, and Ning Changqun executed them publicly to display his authority while trying to discredit Sun Xiangzong.
• Fang Qingyun produced Shen Chang and the soldiers’ families as evidence that Ning Changqun had ordered the sabotage, while Ning denied the charges.
• Sun Xiangzong ordered Ning Changqun executed, and Ning challenged him as a Martial Saint before attacking him with his Mountain Splitting Great Axe.
• Sun Xiangzong wielded a silver dragon that destroyed Ning Changqun, revealing his overwhelming power to the crowd.

Sun Xiangzong killed Ning Changqun and reclaimed his prestige, while Chen Sanshi advanced his cultivation and excelled in the Vanguard Selection’s battlefield test. The chapter ended as Chen Sanshi spotted a martial artist with an unusual blackish-red qi resembling that of a poisonous beast.

• Sun Xiangzong killed Ning Changqun with a single strike, then intimidated Governor Liu before letting him go and restoring the soldiers’ confidence in him.
• Fang Qingyun told Sun Buqi that Sun Xiangzong had acted to reclaim authority without provoking an open war with the imperial court, while Chen Sanshi returned home and reflected on the Governor’s power.
• Chen Sanshi broke through to minor accomplishment in Viscera Tempering and gained the Kirin Heart, which let him decipher an opponent’s fighting patterns after thirty exchanges.
• Commander Li announced that the Vanguard Selection’s third test was to kill rebels breaking out of Dongyi City, and Chen Sanshi used his great bow to kill enemies at the western gate.
• Chen Sanshi reached the Grade A target of four hundred kills, then noticed an unusual blackish-red qi among the fighters that resembled poisonous-beast qi.

Chen Sanshi discovered that black-red qi had driven Zhang Haimin into a temporary breakthrough before Lu Ji killed him, then learned the Witch God Cult had slaughtered the Jade Maiden Pavilion and evaded a citywide search. After his wife Gu Xinlan revealed she was pregnant, Chen advanced through the Vanguard martial contest until he faced Wen Qiushi, whose mouth and tongue Chen smashed before he could surrender.

• Chen Sanshi saw black-red qi surge through Zhang Haimin and watched him break through to the Mystic Elephant Realm, but Lu Ji defeated and killed him; Chen suspected the qi burned away its host’s life.
• The Jade Maiden Pavilion’s sect master and more than a hundred inner disciples were killed, prompting a three-day lockdown that yielded no arrests, and the Vanguard assessment was postponed.
• Gu Xinlan confirmed she was pregnant, and Sun Li urged Chen Sanshi to keep aiming for first place in the final martial contest.
• Chen Sanshi won his first three matches, while Wen Qiushi crippled Tang Yingke after Tang conceded, enraging Chen.
• Chen Sanshi overwhelmed Wen Qiushi with the Unity Spear Technique and smashed his mouth and tongue before he could call out his surrender.

Chen Sanshi killed Wen Qiushi in the Selection Vanguard examination after Wen Qiushi could not make his surrender understood. Wen Zhi was prevented from retaliating and left with his son’s body after Fang Qingyun warned him that any attack on Chen Sanshi or his household would be investigated.

• Wen Zhi and Shao Yujing watched Chen Sanshi overwhelm Wen Qiushi and worried that Wen Qiushi could not call out his surrender because his mouth was badly injured.
• Wen Zhi shouted that his son conceded, but the examination guards did not intervene until they realized Wen Qiushi could not speak.
• Chen Sanshi cut Wen Qiushi’s wrists and pierced his heart before the examining general could stop him, and the general ruled that Chen Sanshi had not broken the rules.
• Wen Zhi tried to reach Chen Sanshi, but Lu Ji and the others stopped him and insisted the fight had followed the examination rules.
• Wen Zhi left with Wen Qiushi’s body, and Fang Qingyun warned him that retaliation against Chen Sanshi or his family would trigger an investigation.

Chen Sanshi advanced to the Vanguard Selection final after killing Wen Qiushi, while Cao Fan prepared to face him. As the senior disciples worried about Cao Fan claiming the championship and becoming Sun Xiangzong’s True Disciple, the final match approached with Chen Sanshi still the underdog.

• Chen Sanshi rested after winning his semifinal, resolved to kill Wen Qiushi, and raised his Unity Spear Technique proficiency through the day’s fighting.
• Cao Fan learned that Chen Sanshi had killed Wen Qiushi and questioned Yin Hanwen about Chen’s unfamiliar spear technique before agreeing to fight cautiously.
• Sun Xiangzong proposed awarding two Grade As if Chen Sanshi defeated Cao Fan across realms, and Pei Tiannan and Eunuch Hou accepted the idea while expecting Cao Fan to win.
• As the final match drew near, Sun Buqi asked his senior brothers and sisters for help against Cao Fan, but they saw little chance for Chen Sanshi to overcome the realm gap.

Chen Sanshi faced Cao Fan in the Select Vanguard championship match, enduring the heir apparent’s Blood Raging attacks while studying his saber technique. The chapter ended with Chen still holding his ground, as Pei Tiannan recognized his extraordinary reserves of blood and qi.

• Meng Guangxin offered to teach Chen Sanshi his staff technique, but Ye Fengxiu explained that Cao Fan’s Golden Crow Heavenly Dragon Saber Technique left them unable to provide useful guidance.
• Yan Changqing warned Chen Sanshi that Cao Fan might try to kill him, but Chen refused to forfeit and entered the arena for the final match.
• Sun Li worried that Cao Fan would harm Chen Sanshi, and Rong Yanqiu promised to watch over him.
• Cao Fan demanded that Chen Sanshi cripple himself, then attacked as soon as the gong rang and entered the Blood Raging state after Chen’s opening strikes failed.
• Chen Sanshi used the Unity Spear Technique to withstand Cao Fan’s fierce saber attacks while the Kirin Heart helped him understand the technique with each exchange.
• Pei Tiannan doubted that Chen Sanshi was nearing defeat and noted that he had maintained his footing despite Cao Fan’s overwhelming pressure.

Chen Sanshi endured Cao Fan’s assault, adapted to his saber technique, and defeated him in the Selection of the Vanguard. Bone testing revealed Chen Sanshi had an Ethereal Body Shifting Physique, confirming him as champion and chief True Disciple, with the Apprenticeship Ceremony set for seven days later.

• Chen Sanshi withstood Cao Fan’s attacks through thirty exchanges, then cracked the Golden Crow Heavenly Dragon Saber Technique and counterattacked.
• Cao Fan’s Blood Raging state ended after forty-nine exchanges, and he conceded before Chen Sanshi’s spear could reach his throat.
• Sun Xiangzong and the officials disputed whether Chen Sanshi could be champion, while Cao Fan received five Grade As and Chen Sanshi was announced with six.
• Pei Tiannan and Eunuch Hou examined Chen Sanshi and discovered his Adamantine Body and Ethereal Body Shifting Physique, an Innate Martial Saint Physique.
• Commander Li confirmed Chen Sanshi as champion and chief True Disciple, and the Apprenticeship Ceremony was scheduled for seven days later.

After winning the Vanguard Selection, Chen Sanshi faced a nighttime intruder linked to Immortal Seeking Tower and brought her to the Governor’s Mansion, then visited Ciyun Temple with Gu Xinlan. There, he discovered worshippers’ purple aura flowing into an incense burner instead of the deity statue.

• Pei Tiannan accused Chen Sanshi of concealing his physique, but Fang Qingyun explained that the Ethereal Body Shifting Physique emerged gradually, and Sun Xiangzong confirmed Chen Sanshi would become his True Disciple.
• Chen Sanshi declined officials’ invitations, planned to strengthen himself and investigate the Witch God Cult, and returned home to care for pregnant Gu Xinlan.
• After a black-clad intruder entered Chen Sanshi’s courtyard, Wen Zhi captured her, and Chen Sanshi found a trace of Azure Profound Qi on her before learning she belonged to Immortal Seeking Tower.
• Chen Sanshi delivered the injured woman to Fang Qingyun at the Governor’s Mansion, where Fang said Immortal Seeking Tower would not trouble him again for now.
• Chen Sanshi visited Ciyun Temple with Gu Xinlan, drank Spirit Nurturing Soup, and persuaded Qiu Mingzi to give him a mystic-iron cauldron for a donation.
• Chen Sanshi saw purple qi rise from worshippers and flow into the incense burner before the offering table.

Chen Sanshi became Sun Xiangzong’s disciple, learned that spiritual energy was required to practice the Sword Qi Technique, and received a collection of martial arts manuals. The chapter left him celebrating with his senior brothers and sisters at Danggui Courtyard, where his Eldest Senior Brother arrived.

• Chen Sanshi discovered that Ciyun Temple’s incense burner gathered purple qi, worshipped the deity, and borrowed the Mysterious Weapon Furnace for five thousand taels.
• At the Apprenticeship Ceremony, Chen Sanshi became a Thousand Commander in the Reserve Camp, and Fang Qingyun announced that Grade A Bone Structure disciples could challenge True Disciples for their positions.
• Cao Fan resolved to train harder and seize military power in the Northern Frontier as he watched Chen Sanshi depart.
• Sun Xiangzong accepted Chen Sanshi as his disciple, gave him a mountain of martial arts manuals, and promised to guide him toward an Immortal Method after he reached Martial Saint within three years.
• Chen Sanshi read the Sword Qi Technique and learned it required spiritual energy, which he could not find in the world around him.
• Chen Sanshi joined his senior brothers and sisters at Danggui Courtyard, received gifts including Mysterious Iron Armor and the Five Tiger Soul Severing Spear, and saw his Eldest Senior Brother arrive.

Chen Sanshi discovered that Ciyun Temple’s Spirit Nurturing Soup contained an unknown Immortal Medicine, while he completed Viscera Refining and began investigating the temple and the person following him. After exposing Nie Yuan as the stalker and asking Eunuch Hou to find Shunzi, Chen Sanshi secretly carried the Mysterious Iron Cauldron into the Luotian Mountain Range to test it.

• Lu Ji and Nie Yuan brought Chen Sanshi an Iron-Tire Bow and arrows at his induction banquet, where several disciples argued with Lu Ji over his ties to the Cao family.
• Lu Ji questioned Chen Sanshi about the Immortal Method, but Chen Sanshi showed him ordinary martial arts manuals, and Lu Ji left without finding the secret.
• Chen Sanshi completed Viscera Refining, developed the Unity Spear Technique’s Blood Raging state, and began training in the Dragon Spear of the Nation’s Force Transformation method.
• At Ciyun Temple, Chen Sanshi noticed an unknown medicine in the Spirit Nurturing Soup and suspected it was Immortal Medicine; he also saw incense offerings gather in the temple’s burner.
• Chen Sanshi lured his stalker into a confrontation with Wen Zhi and Hou Bao, who wounded Nie Yuan, then asked Hou Bao to help find Shunzi.
• After several days without another pursuit, Chen Sanshi carried the Mysterious Iron Cauldron into the Luotian Mountain Range to test whether it could refine Spirit Rice.

Chen Sanshi refined Spirit Grain into ointment that accelerated his cultivation, then tested whether temple incense could power the Sword Qi Technique. He learned that incense could replace spiritual qi but could not take it from a god’s statue, and the chapter ended with Yu Song ordering him to lead troops against the Yuyang Sect.

• Chen Sanshi used exotic fire to refine Spirit Grain into ointment, tested it on animals, and consumed it to speed up his Force Transformation training.
• Chen Sanshi fed some ointment to Qianxun, who eagerly wanted more, then met Tang Yingke, who warned him about Cao Fan and political factions in the army before leaving for the capital.
• Chen Sanshi saw Cao Fan training himself to exhaustion with the Golden Crow Fierce Blade, while Cao Fan insisted that Chen was dangerous and Yin Hanwen proposed having him killed.
• Chen Sanshi collected two Mysterious Iron Cauldrons, visited temples and monasteries, and confirmed that incense power could fuel the Sword Qi Technique but could not be taken from a god’s statue.
• Zhao Kang told Chen Sanshi that Yu Song had ordered him to lead soldiers east of the city to suppress the Yuyang Sect.

Chen Sanshi led a squad into Yuyang Sect to seize its disciples and discovered that sect master Huang Tianrong was fleeing through a hidden escape route. After Sha Wenlong delayed sending help, Chen Sanshi defeated and killed Huang Tianrong, then confronted Sha with the severed head.

• Yu Song explained that the Reserve Camp planned to surround Yuyang Sect and capture Huang Tianrong over suspected ties to the Witch God Cult, while Sha Wenlong assigned Chen Sanshi and other commanders separate targets.
• Chen Sanshi found his assigned courtyard empty, discovered hidden valuables, and realized Huang Tianrong’s group might use it as an escape route.
• Huang Tianrong led his disciples through a tunnel toward the courtyard, intending to flee to Mingzhou and join King Liang of Meishan, but Chen Sanshi’s squad ambushed them.
• Chen Sanshi sent up Whistling arrows while fighting Huang Tianrong, but Sha Wenlong delayed responding to the signal as Chen realized he had likely been set up.
• Chen Sanshi gradually overpowered Huang Tianrong, broke his fish fork, and pierced his heart with the Silver Dragon spear.
• Sha Wenlong arrived to find Chen Sanshi sever Huang Tianrong’s head and throw it before him.

Chen Sanshi uncovered the Immortal Seeking Tower’s connection to immortal cultivation and obtained Spirit Sand from Ningxiang, while clues about baleful qi in the Luotian Mountain Range raised new concerns. After Sha Wenlong was transferred away, Yin Hanwen planned to have Chen Sanshi killed and frame the Witch God Cult.

• Chen Sanshi killed Huang Tianrong, whose faint black qi reminded him of Zhang Haimin, and the Reserve Camp searched the Yuyang Sect but found no further evidence against its disciples.
• Sha Wenlong awarded Chen Sanshi one Class B military merit and three thousand taels; Rong Yanqiu caught Nie Yuan following Chen Sanshi and demanded that Lu Ji remove or transfer Sha Wenlong.
• Chen Sanshi went to Crimson Sleeve Tower, where he met Ningxiang and Zhaozhao; Ningxiang offered him Spirit Sand in exchange for a future promise to take them along if he reached the true immortal realm.
• Ningxiang told Chen Sanshi that baleful qi was growing in the Luotian Mountain Range and might be connected to the Witch God Cult’s attacks; Chen Sanshi trained through the night and reclaimed the five thousand taels he had borrowed for admission.
• Chen Sanshi learned that Sha Wenlong had been transferred to another camp, while Yin Hanwen admitted arranging the Yuyang Sect ambush and then asked Old Guard Wei to kill Chen Sanshi and blame the Witch God Cult.

Chen Sanshi reached Force Transformation, mastered the Sword Qi Technique, and learned that Zhang Shun might have joined a massive rebellion in Danzhou. After discovering Yin Hanwen was preparing to have his family killed, Chen arranged protection for Gu Xinlan and confronted Yin on the road, where he demonstrated his new spell.

• Chen Sanshi broke through to beginner Force Transformation and continued cultivating the Sword Qi Technique while Eunuch Hou reported that Zhang Shun had disappeared during a Danzhou uprising and that the Red Brow Army controlled six cities in Mingzhou.
• Chen Sanshi intensified his soldiers' training, learned Yin Hanwen was leaving Liangzhou, and asked Rong Yanqiu to guard Gu Xinlan while he went into the mountains.
• Chen Sanshi reached entry level in the Sword Qi Technique, then hurried back as Yin Hanwen and his guards traveled away from the city.
• Yin Hanwen ordered Wei Gong to kill Chen Sanshi's family, but Chen ambushed the party on the road and killed the guards before confronting Yin.
• Wei Gong rescued Yin Hanwen and attacked Chen Sanshi, but a silver streak struck Wei Gong between the brows and left him dead.

Chen Sanshi explored the Luotian Mountain Range, gathered rare materials, and learned that Liangzhou’s army would soon march on Mingzhou. Before the expedition, he helped expose Ciyun Temple’s suspicious Taoists, leaving them imprisoned while he prepared to leave for war.

• Chen Sanshi killed Wei Gong and Yin Hanwen with a spell, concealed evidence, then hunted through the mountains and found an Eared Mouse and a Purple Frost Flower.
• Chen Sanshi discovered a baleful-qi-tainted zheng near Eightfold Mountain, exchanged blows with it, and withdrew when it proved too powerful to kill safely.
• Chen Sanshi returned to Liangzhou, gave the Purple Frost Flower to Sun Li, and burned a Protective Talisman from Qiu Mingzi after detecting something suspicious in it.
• Chen Sanshi learned that Liangzhou would send forty thousand troops to suppress the Red Brow Army in Mingzhou and warned General Zhao about risks in the campaign plan, but Zhao kept the existing strategy.
• Chen Sanshi and Cao Fan led troops to search Ciyun Temple, where Lu Ji confirmed that Yuxu Zi had reached Meridian Opening and soldiers found a Vajra Pestle.
• Chen Sanshi secretly took in the purple qi from Ciyun Temple’s incense burner, then watched Yuxu Zi and the other Taoists get imprisoned for suspected Witch God Cult ties.

Chen Sanshi learned that the Red Brow Army’s Heavenly Book could greatly strengthen soldiers, then marched with the Liangzhou forces into Mingzhou. After finding Baigou County devastated, he uncovered that its officials and Li Changsheng had abandoned the city and ordered their execution.

• Chen Sanshi found that Ghost Vein Wood could retain inner force and considered using it for arrow shafts while searching for suitable arrowhead material.
• Ningxiang told Chen Sanshi that Liang Jinian’s Heavenly Book had enabled the Red Brow Army to defeat a Mystic Elephant Realm general, though its power might be running out; Chen agreed to share any intelligence he found.
• Chen Sanshi left for the Mingzhou campaign, received a Sea East Green and a Protective Talisman from Rong Yanqiu and Sun Li, and later studied the army’s plans and the Red Brow Army’s position.
• Chen Sanshi led his troops to Baigou County and found its people slaughtered after the defenders had withdrawn into Li Family Manor instead of defending the city.
• Chen Sanshi overheard Li Changsheng, the County Magistrate, and Inspector Hu Wen admitting they had let the Red Brow Army pass, so Zhao Kang ordered the soldiers to execute them.