Chapter Summaries

Princess Ning Han tried to draw Shen Lang away from Ning Zheng’s succession struggle by offering him a place in Horizon Sea Pavilion, but Shen Lang refused, and Kutou Huan chose to leave the Pavilion rather than abandon him. Shen Lang sought Beiyuan Hunting Ground from Ning Yuanxian to train his New Army, but Zhong Shishi barged in and demanded the same grounds, claiming Shen Lang had molested her.

• Princess Ning Han offered Shen Lang a place as Pavilion Master Zuo Ci’s registered disciple and urged him to withdraw from Ning Zheng’s struggle for the throne, but Shen Lang refused and said he wanted revenge on the Xue Family.
• Ning Han ordered Zhuo Yichen to return to Horizon Sea Pavilion, but Kutou Huan rejected the order and chose to leave the sect rather than desert Shen Lang and Ning Zheng.
• Zhong Shishi entered the capital with a thousand cavalrymen, forced Shen Lang’s party aside, and had her soldiers fire crossbow bolts at them.
• Shen Lang told Ning Yuanxian that Ning Han had tried to pressure him, then asked to use Beiyuan Hunting Ground to train his New Army for a possible border hunt against Chu Kingdom.
• Zhong Shishi burst into the palace, accused Shen Lang of molesting her, demanded that his eyes be gouged out, and claimed Beiyuan Hunting Ground for her cavalry; Ning Yuanxian revealed that he had just granted it to Shen Lang.

Zhong Shishi demanded Beiyuan Hunting Ground, and Shen Lang challenged her to a duel to avenge the injury she had inflicted on Jin MuLan. After his allies tried to spirit him away, Sword King Li Qianqiu brought him back, and the chapter ends as Shen Lang and Zhong Shishi head to the hunting ground for their fight.

• Zhong Shishi insisted on taking Beiyuan Hunting Ground, and Shen Lang challenged her to a martial contest three days later, with the winner claiming it.
• Ning Yuanxian and Li Zhun warned Shen Lang about Zhong Shishi's strength, but Shen Lang signed her challenge letter and vowed to avenge MuLan.
• Ning Zheng, Bing'er, Jin MuCong, and Xian Nu bound Shen Lang and sent him away from the capital, but Zhong Shishi, Xue Pan, and their forces intercepted his escort.
• Sword King Li Qianqiu ordered Kutou Huan to return Shen Lang to the capital, and Li Qianqiu later said Shen Lang had nearly a hundred percent certainty of winning.
• Rumors spread that Shen Lang had fled, while nobles gathered for the duel and Ning Yuanxian issued an edict forbidding either fighter from killing the other.
• Shen Lang and Zhong Shishi left the capital with their respective parties and headed for Beiyuan Hunting Ground.

At the capital’s noble gathering, Shen Lang provoked Zhong Shishi and publicly whipped Sixth Prince Ning Jing before the duel. When the duel began, Shen Lang used a neurotoxin to paralyze Zhong Shishi and beat her unconscious, leaving the outcome of the fight clear.

• The noble spectators mocked Shen Lang and bet on Zhong Shishi instantly killing him, while Ning Jing taunted Ning Zheng and Shen Lang.
• Shen Lang threatened Ning Jing over the Su Clan and whipped him after Little Eunuch Li showed no support for the prince.
• Shen Lang and Zhong Shishi prepared for the duel as Little Eunuch Li warned them not to kill or cripple each other.
• Before the second gong, Shen Lang released neurotoxin from his sword, and Zhong Shishi collapsed moments after the duel began.
• Shen Lang kicked Zhong Shishi and punched her repeatedly until her face was bloodied and swollen, then declared himself the Undefeated East.

Shen Lang defeated Zhong Shishi, weathered political fallout, and was reunited with Ning Yan after her marriage was dissolved. Jin MuLan arrived at the manor to surprise him, but overheard him with Ning Yan before Shen Lang sensed her presence and called out to her.

• Shen Lang defeated Zhong Shishi, beat her severely, and claimed Beiyuan Hunting Ground under their wager.
• Consort Zhong demanded Shen Lang's death, but Ning Yuanxian had him theatrically whipped and reconciled with Consort Zhong instead of truly punishing him.
• Yan Wuji and Zhuo Zhaoyan concluded that Shen Lang had helped Ning Yuanxian by ruining Zhong Shishi's match with the Martial Prince's son.
• Lian Prince dissolved Ning Yan's marriage, and Ning Yuanxian issued an edict freeing her.
• Ning Yan confessed her love to Shen Lang and insisted on moving in with him, while he told her that Jin MuLan remained his one true love.
• Jin MuLan arrived at the manor hoping to surprise Shen Lang, overheard him with Ning Yan, and froze when he recognized her scent and called to her.

Shen Lang and MuLan reunited after he was caught with Ning Yan, and he later saved Sword King Li Qianqiu’s wife from her Gu poison. The chapter ended with Shen Lang secretly entering the palace to treat the paralyzed Monarch Ning Yuanxian.

• MuLan confronted Shen Lang after finding him with Ning Yan, then told him that Zhang Yuyin had cut ties with him because Horizon Sea Pavilion had blacklisted him.
• Shen Lang used successive generations of neurotoxin Gu worms to counter the poison in Li Qianqiu’s wife, and the dangerous treatment succeeded.
• Shen Lang and MuLan spent their days together, while MuLan asked whether she could become the greatest expert under heaven.
• Great Eunuch Li Zhun urgently summoned Shen Lang to the palace, revealing that the Monarch had become paralyzed and was trembling uncontrollably.
• Shen Lang entered Consort Zhong’s courtyard and found Ning Yuanxian motionless in bed as Consort Zhong begged him to save the Monarch.

Shen Lang saved Monarch Ning Yuanxian from a cerebral infarction, then learned the Monarch had Parkinson's Syndrome and persuaded him to back Ning Zheng in a four-month military challenge against Chu Kingdom. After Ning Yuanxian agreed to grant Ning Zheng the chance to contend for the throne if Shen Lang won, Yun Mengze told Shen Lang that Chou Yao'er had founded a nation overseas.

• Shen Lang diagnosed Ning Yuanxian with a cerebral infarction, and Old Ancestor Li Mu used a Silver Needle and Inner Force to clear the blockage and save him.
• Ning Yuanxian regained consciousness, and Shen Lang told him he likely had Parkinson's Syndrome, which could be managed but not cured.
• Shen Lang argued that Ning Zheng could unite Yue Kingdom's factions and proposed a border hunt against Chu Kingdom to restore Ning Yuanxian's authority.
• Ning Yuanxian agreed to let Shen Lang train two thousand soldiers for four months and promised to appoint Ning Zheng Tianyue City Governor and let him expand his army by five thousand if they won.
• Shen Lang returned home and reunited with Yun Mengze, who told him that Chou Yao'er had founded a nation overseas.

Shen Lang learned that Chou Yao'er had founded an overseas nation while pregnant, then watched rumors about Ning Yuanxian's illness destabilize Yue Kingdom's politics. When Ning Zheng took charge of stalled talks with Chu Kingdom, Shen Lang forced the delegation to hear a new proposal for a decisive border hunt.

• Yun Mengze told Shen Lang that Chou Yao'er had conquered cities, freed slaves, and become queen of an overseas nation while still heavily pregnant.
• MuLan spent an intimate noon with Shen Lang, warned Ning Yan to keep Zhong Shishi away from him, and returned to Xuanwu City the next morning.
• Rumors that Ning Yuanxian had suffered a stroke spread through the capital, prompting political maneuvering and making Chu Kingdom's envoys more aggressive.
• Ning Zheng accepted responsibility for negotiating with Chu Kingdom, but the Yue delegation withdrew and left him with only Shen Lang at the talks.
• After Chu envoy Wang Huaili issued demands for an apology, territory, and reparations, Shen Lang had the Ten Lan Brothers beat the Chu delegation and then proposed a border hunt in four months, with Ning Zheng commanding Yue Kingdom's two thousand troops.

Shen Lang and Ning Zheng’s unequal Border Hunting Competition treaty forced Yue to accept a contest against Chu, while Ning Yuanxian publicly punished them and secretly gave them a chance to win. With four months to recruit two thousand soldiers, Shen Lang began press-ganging the capital’s frailest and most foolish men.

• Shen Lang and Ning Zheng signed a treaty setting a contest of five thousand Chu soldiers against two thousand Yue soldiers, with severe penalties for the loser.
• The Chu King ratified the treaty and threatened war, while Ning Yuanxian publicly disavowed the agreement, arrested Ning Zheng, and confined Shen Lang.
• Under pressure from Chu’s advancing army, Ning Yuanxian confirmed the contest for four months later and privately told Ning Zheng he could compete for the succession if he won.
• Ning Zheng became commander of Yue’s force, but Ning Yuanxian refused to provide troops, leaving him and Shen Lang to recruit two thousand men themselves.
• After Shen Lang’s recruiting stall attracted almost no volunteers, he ordered female warriors to seize able-bodied men, selecting frail and foolish recruits.

Shen Lang gathered 2,389 Blank Zero Bloodline Bearers, rescued them from neglect and abandonment, and brought them to the Beiyuan Hunting Ground to alter their bloodlines. Zhong Shishi and the Zhong Family seized the hunting ground and threatened Shen Lang’s outnumbered force, leaving both sides facing off as Shen Lang counted down.

• Shen Lang’s Female Warriors recruited Blank Zero Bloodline Bearers and paid their families, while Wang Da’s family abandoned him in the wilderness and Shen Lang’s forces rescued him after three days.
• Shen Lang brought 2,389 Blank Zero Bloodline Bearers to Ning Zheng’s Changping Marquis Manor, where they recovered, returned their first month’s pay, and quickly mastered military formations.
• Shen Lang led the group out of the capital toward the Beiyuan Hunting Ground as crowds mocked them, and he planned to alter their bloodlines there in secret.
• Zhong Miao blocked the entrance with three hundred Zhong Family cavalry and claimed the hunting ground for the Zhong Family.
• Zhong Shishi appeared with two thousand elite troops and threatened to slaughter Shen Lang’s force, while Shen Lang laughed and began his own countdown.

Shen Lang frightened Zhong Shishi’s forces away from the Beiyuan Hunting Ground, then tricked Zhong Shishi into believing White Impermanence had taken her chastity and learned her secrets. With the hunting ground secure, he began transforming the bloodlines of more than two thousand three hundred Blank Zero Bloodline Bearers, starting with Wang Da.

• Shen Lang claimed he had contaminated the Beiyuan Hunting Ground’s water with gu poison, prompting Zhong Shishi and her soldiers to panic and flee, though the supposed infection was a bluff and a plant toxin.
• Li Qianqiu abducted Zhong Shishi for Shen Lang, who drugged her and left a letter as White Impermanence, making her believe he had been intimate with her and learned Zhong Family secrets.
• Zhong Shishi returned with Zhong Miao to confront Shen Lang, but his alibi and the discovery that the soldiers had no gu worms left her confused and focused on finding White Impermanence.
• Shen Lang and Kutou Huan took control of the Beiyuan Hunting Ground, where Shen Lang began transforming the bloodlines of the Blank Zero Bloodline Bearers.
• Wang Da agreed to undergo the procedure without fear, and Shen Lang injected him with Golden Bloodline energy Gu worm.

Shen Lang transformed more than two thousand Zero Bloodline Bearers with Golden Bloodline Gu Worms, and they awakened as a disciplined, powerful army under Kutou Huan. Meanwhile, MuLan learned she was pregnant, Bing'er gave birth to a daughter, and Shen Lang was away at the Beiyuan Hunting Ground as the chapter ended with the new soldiers beginning their training.

• Shen Lang injected Golden Bloodline Gu Worms into Wang Da and Li Gouzi, beginning their three-day transformation without casualties among the Zero Bloodline Bearers.
• Doctor An Zaishi confirmed that MuLan was pregnant, and she joyfully told Su Peipei and Shen Lang's mother.
• Bing'er gave birth smoothly to a daughter while Shen Lang was away, and Lady Zhuo and the children visited the newborn.
• The Zhong Family's soldiers suffered fatal poisoning after inhaling gas at the Beiyuan Hunting Ground, where Shen Lang had gone.
• Wang Da awoke with greatly enhanced strength and speed, then helped Li Gouzi and the other transformed soldiers test their abilities.
• Kutou Huan saw the more than two thousand Nirvana Holders assemble and train with exceptional discipline, then issued their training and meal schedule.

The Wu King rejected Chu Kingdom’s offer of grain in exchange for voiding his pact with Yue Kingdom, and used a scandal to begin purging Wu’s old ministers. While Shen Lang stayed home with his newborn daughter and appeared to have abandoned the Border Hunting Competition, Kutou Huan secretly trained his recruits into a heavily armed elite force.

• The Wu King refused Chu Kingdom’s demand to void his agreement with Yue Kingdom, then raised grain from Wu’s aristocratic clans and began removing compromised ministers with Wu Mu’s return to office.
• As Ning Yuanxian’s illness intensified the succession struggle between the Crown Prince and Ning Qi, Shen Lang’s lack of official rewards for his newborn daughter led people to believe that he had fallen from favor.
• Shen Lang stayed home holding his daughter, Shen Mi, while Great Eunuch Li Zhun visited, delivered gifts from Consort Bian and himself, and relayed the Monarch’s plan to bring the baby into the palace after the competition.
• Spies watched Kutou Huan’s recruits practice nothing but downward blade swings with wooden blades, then abandoned their surveillance, assuming Shen Lang’s army was hopeless.
• Kutou Huan had secretly made the recruits’ blades grow heavier until they weighed nearly two hundred jin, preparing the bloodline-modified soldiers to wield heavy Mo Dao blades and armor as a formidable infantry force.

Monarch Ning Yuanxian faced factional strife, a looming war against Lord Jun, and a costly need for troops, but refused the Hidden Origin Society’s loan terms when they demanded Shen Lang’s glass-mirror formula. At Beiyuan Hunting Ground, Shen Lang’s Bloodline Transformers completed their final assessment, leaving him confident they would dominate the Border Hunting Competition.

• Ning Yuanxian lamented that his illness had weakened his authority as the Crown Prince and Third Prince Ning Qi fought over Tianxi Province and tested his resolve.
• Yan E reported that assassination could no longer stop Lord Jun, and Ning Yuanxian weighed sending troops south while worrying about the northern defenses and the cost of the campaign.
• Ning Jie secured an offer from the Hidden Origin Society for a 3.5-million-gold-coin loan, but Ning Yuanxian rejected Shu Botao’s demand for Shen Lang’s glass-mirror formula.
• Ning Yuanxian ordered Nangong Ao to ready fifty thousand troops for the Nan'ou Kingdom front and expected Shen Lang and Ning Zheng to restore his standing.
• At Beiyuan Hunting Ground, more than 2,300 Bloodline Transformers each cleaved a one-chi-wide tree with a single strike, passing Shen Lang’s final assessment.

Shen Lang’s Elite Army completed its tests and set out with Ning Zheng for the Border Hunting Competition, while the Yue court and foreign envoys gathered at the Chu-Yue border. The competition began with a Go challenge, and Ning Zheng appeared to solve the supposedly unsolvable Heaven Endgame.

• More than 2,300 recruits passed the assessment, so Shen Lang and Kutou Huan used a lottery to select the 2,000 participants; the soldiers tested their super mo dao and 50-kilogram armor before departing.
• Kutou Huan caught the Ten Lan Brothers gambling during free time, whipped them, and ordered them back to training.
• Ning Yuanxian left the capital with the army, and Zhong Yao met him on the road and promised to defend Yue Kingdom if Chu attacked.
• At the border, Lian Prince warned Ning Yuanxian that the Great Yan Empire might recognize Lord Jun and advised him not to recall Ning Zheng and Shen Lang after their expected exile.
• The Chu King arrived, and the kings confirmed the competition’s terms before beginning the event with a challenge to solve the Heaven Endgame.
• Shen Lang proposed that Ning Zheng play in Ning Yuanxian’s place, and Ning Zheng’s moves soon made it appear that he was winning.

Ning Zheng solved the Horizon Sea Pavilion’s Heaven Endgame, and Shen Lang forced the Chu King to honor his public wager before the Border Hunting Competition began. Yue Kingdom’s armored New Army then withstood Chu’s arrows and spears and tore through its elite infantry with Super Mòdaos, leaving the battle as a one-sided slaughter.

• Ning Zheng defeated the Chu Crown Prince at Go, officially solving the Heaven Endgame, but declined the honor of being reported to the Horizon Sea Pavilion.
• Shen Lang called out the Chu King and Crown Prince for breaking their promise, and the Chu King struck the earthen jar while the Crown Prince sang before both kingdoms presented their maps, edicts, and gold for inspection.
• The Border Hunting Competition began as Chu deployed two thousand elite infantry and three thousand armored cavalry, while Yue sent Ning Zheng’s two thousand New Army soldiers.
• Kutou Huan ordered the New Army to don its heavy armor and Super Mòdaos, and the soldiers formed ranks with striking precision.
• Chu’s arrows and spears failed to penetrate Yue’s armor, and the New Army advanced without breaking formation.
• Kutou Huan ordered the New Army to cut in two, and its Super Mòdaos smashed Chu’s shield wall and cleaved through the front ranks of Chu’s infantry.

Shen Lang’s two thousand Nirvana New Army soldiers annihilated Chu Kingdom’s elite infantry and defeated its three thousand heavily armored cavalry, while Big Fool and Kutou Huan fought their own fierce duels. Yue Kingdom won the Border Hunting Competition when Wang Da cut down Chu Kingdom’s military flag.

• The Nirvana New Army slaughtered Chu Kingdom’s two thousand elite soldiers in minutes, shocking the assembled officials and envoys.
• The Chu King ordered three thousand heavily armored cavalry to charge, while Big Fool fought Tu Da and Tu Er and Kutou Huan battled Huyan Xie.
• The New Army stood firm against the cavalry and cut down the charging horses and riders, then killed most of the remaining cavalry in a prolonged melee.
• Big Fool gradually overpowered Tu Da and Tu Er but kept fighting instead of taking the opportunity to seize Chu Kingdom’s flag.
• Wang Da’s formation advanced through the battlefield, and he cut down Chu Kingdom’s flagpole, ending the competition with a decisive Yue Kingdom victory.

The Yue Kingdom won the Border Hunting Competition, and Ning Yuanxian revealed that his apparent illness had been a ruse before making the Chu King fulfill the humiliating terms of defeat. As the army returned to the capital, Ning Yuanxian praised Shen Lang and offered him a reward, and Shen Lang asked to be made a Duke.

• Big Fool battered Tu Da and Tu Er until they gave up, then ran back toward the Yue border while the Chu Heavy Cavalry fled.
• Huyan Xie conceded defeat to Kutou Huan, and Lian Prince declared the Yue Kingdom the winner of the Border Hunting Competition.
• Ning Zheng presented the royal banner, and Ning Yuanxian stood up in full strength, raised it, and named the New Army the Nirvana Army.
• The Chu King accepted the territorial loss, read a public decree of apology, and handed over the war reparations; after Shen Lang taunted him as he departed, he spat blood and fainted in his carriage.
• Ning Yuanxian granted Zhong Yao military funds and entrusted him with the western battlefield, then asked what he thought of Ning Zheng.
• The next day, Ning Yuanxian began the return to the capital, praised Shen Lang, and offered him a reward; Shen Lang asked to be granted the title of Duke.

Shen Lang discussed rewards for Ning Zheng and Jin MuCong with Ning Yuanxian, then outlined a new archer force and promised to raise three million gold coins for the coming war. After the army returned to the capital, Ning Yuanxian punished officials from both rival factions and openly advanced Ning Zheng’s position.

• Shen Lang requested a dukedom for Ning Zheng, then asked Ning Yuanxian to arrange Zhu Ning’s marriage to Jin MuCong.
• Shen Lang explained the cost and limits of the Nirvana Army and proposed training three thousand elite archers for jungle warfare.
• Shen Lang offered to earn three million gold coins in half a month if Ning Yuanxian would make Ning Zheng a Duke.
• News of the Nirvana Army’s victory over Chu Kingdom spread, stunning the capital and halting the Crown Prince’s and Ning Qi’s factional attacks.
• Ning Yuanxian returned to the capital in triumph, revealed himself to be healthy, and had thirty officials from the two factions arrested and executed.
• Ning Yuanxian removed Zhang Zhao as Tianyue City Governor, appointed Ning Zheng in his place, and expanded Ning Zheng’s forces by five thousand.

The Monarch elevated Ning Zheng to compete for the succession, while Shen Lang searched for Zero Bloodline Bearers and Ning Zheng struggled to govern Tianyue City. Facing a severe military funding crisis and the Hidden Origin Society’s demands, Ning Yuanxian refused to yield and went to propose marriage to the Zhu household on Jin MuCong’s behalf.

• Ning Yuanxian stripped Zhang Zhao of his post and declared that Ning Zheng could contend for the succession.
• Jin Bing'er brought Shen Mi to the palace, where the Monarch and Consort Bian doted on the baby.
• Shen Lang reviewed the roster of Zero Bloodline Bearers found across Yue Kingdom and planned to rescue them for a new army.
• Ning Zheng took office as Tianyue City Governor and inspected the capital’s defenses despite obstruction from the Crown Prince’s and Third Prince’s factions.
• Ning Yuanxian sought a four-million-gold loan from Shu Botao, but the Hidden Origin Society demanded that Crown Prince Ning Yi negotiate the terms.
• Ning Yuanxian sent Shu Botao away and decided to propose marriage to the Zhu household on Jin MuCong’s behalf.

Ning Yuanxian arranged a blind date between Zhu Ning and Jin MuCong while struggling to secure military funds from the Hidden Origin Society. Jin MuCong fell for Zhu Ning at first sight, and their date began with her asking why some farts smelled and others did not.

• Zhu Hongzhu agreed to let Zhu Ning meet Jin MuCong after Ning Yuanxian proposed the match.
• Shen Lang visited Qiu Shi in the basement and offered to bring her the baby and help her train while she recovered.
• The Queen confronted Ning Yuanxian over the match, and news of Zhu Ning and Jin MuCong's blind date spread through the capital.
• Ning Yuanxian remained unable to borrow military funds from the Hidden Origin Society, while Shen Lang prepared a plan to raise several million taels.
• Jin MuCong waited nervously for Zhu Ning, farted when he stood to greet her, and fell for her when she entered.
• Zhu Ning began the blind date by asking Jin MuCong why some farts smelled and others did not.