Chapter Summaries

Zhao Hongming tested the upgraded Desolations Secret Travel and arranged a secret early departure rather than follow the Jian'an Emperor’s schedule. At Morning Pavilion, he confronted Li Shengnan and guessed that her father planned to have him killed on the road back to the palace.

• Zhao Hongming used Desolations Secret Travel to move instantly, hide his presence, and pass unnoticed, then learned that the Imperial Guard would escort him back to the palace the day after tomorrow.
• Zhao Hongming ordered Wang Bao and Chang Wubing to arrange four fast horses outside the Zhengyi Sect's Mountain Gate so he could avoid the palace’s plans.
• Li Shengnan invited Zhao Hongming to Morning Pavilion, and he told Chang Wubing to gather Gao Yanshi and the others at the foot of the mountain while he returned to the palace ahead of schedule.
• Zhao Hongming admitted to Li Shengnan that he had attacked the Chu Country army and deduced that she had learned of the danger to a Royal Clan Member from her father.
• Zhao Hongming guessed that Li Shengnan's father planned to kill him during the return journey, leaving Li Shengnan stunned.

Zhao Hongming killed Li Shengnan and her maid, then escaped Zhengyi Sect with Chang Wubing and the others. Li Zhiwu discovered the bodies and realized Zhao Hongming had already fled toward Great Liang City.

• Zhao Hongming summoned his sword and killed Li Shengnan, then took her Golden Silk Treasure Armor.
• When Li Shengnan’s maid rushed in, Zhao Hongming killed her to prevent her from alerting Li Zhiwu.
• Zhao Hongming searched the room, escaped Zhengyi Sect, and rode with Chang Wubing and the others toward Great Liang City.
• Li Zhiwu learned that Zhao Hongming had been summoned to Morning Pavilion and discussed plans with Ma Le to deal with him that night.
• Li Zhiwu found Li Shengnan and the maid dead, then discovered Zhao Hongming’s residence had been emptied and realized he had been deceived.

Li Zhiwu mourned his daughter Li Shengnan and pursued Zhao Hongming, while Zhao Hongming raced back to the imperial palace after escaping Zhengyi Palace. Zhao Hongming reached the palace safely, and Ma Le ordered his men to hide nearby and await instructions.

• Li Zhiwu ordered Ma Le to pursue Zhao Hongming, then grieved over Li Shengnan’s death and vowed to seek justice from the Jian'an Emperor.
• A Zhengyi Sect disciple reported that the Dragon Steed had escaped and injured several disciples, but Li Zhiwu struck him and left to pursue Zhao Hongming.
• Zhao Hongming recalled how Li Shengnan’s mention of the Chu Army exposed the danger and how he had seized the chance to flee Zhengyi Palace with Chang Wubing and the others.
• Zhao Hongming and his party rode through Great Liang City after Chang Wubing presented his token, then reached the Noon Gate of the Great Wei Imperial Palace.
• Ma Le and his men caught up outside Great Liang City, concluded Zhao Hongming had already returned safely, and hid nearby to await Ma Le’s orders.

Zhao Hongming returned to the palace after Elder Li of the Zhengyi Sect tried to kill him, then revealed to Zhao Yongxu that he was an Innate Second Grade martial arts genius. Zhao Yongxu recognized that Zhao Hongming had consumed part of Great Wei's Dragon Vein and rewarded him, leaving their relationship newly changed.

• Zhao Hongming reached the palace early, passed the Noon Gate guards, and went to Qianqing Palace to see Zhao Yongxu.
• Zhao Yongxu learned that Zhao Hongming had returned early and ordered Feng Dabao to deal with traitors that night.
• Zhao Hongming asked Zhao Yongxu for protection from Elder Li and revealed that he had reached Innate Second Grade at fourteen.
• Zhao Hongming explained his cultivation by claiming he had drunk soup made from a creature found in an Old Well.
• Zhao Yongxu concluded that Zhao Hongming had consumed one-third of Great Wei's Dragon Vein and increased his stipend and monthly Wish Stones.
• After Zhao Hongming left, Zhao Yongxu asked Feng Daban whether the Fifth Prince resembled him.

Jian'an Emperor Zhao Yongxu decided to grant Zhao Hongming the unprecedented title of Martial King when he turned fifteen. While Zhao Hongming searched the Martial Repository Pavilion for disguise techniques, Li Zhiwu set out to confront Zhao Yongxu over his daughter’s death.

• Zhao Yongxu praised the Fifth Prince and decided to confer the title of Martial King on him when he left the palace at fifteen.
• Zhao Hongming considered the danger posed by Li Zhiwu and went to the Martial Repository Pavilion to find techniques for changing his appearance.
• The steward showed Zhao Hongming a selection of disguise manuals, and Zhao Hongming began examining them.
• Ma Le reported to Li Zhiwu that Zhao Hongming had likely returned to the palace.
• Li Zhiwu said he would go to the palace and demand an explanation from Zhao Yongxu for his daughter’s death.

Li Zhiwu confronted the Jian'an Emperor Zhao Yongxu in the Imperial Palace and demanded that Zhao Hongming be handed over to answer for his daughter’s death. Zhao Yongxu exposed Li Zhiwu’s ties to a slain Imperial City Division martial man and unleashed the palace formation, leaving Li Zhiwu bloodied beneath its pressure.

• Li Zhiwu entered the Imperial Palace after spotting Zhao Hongming’s horses at the Noon Gate.
• Li Zhiwu accused Zhao Hongming of killing his eldest daughter and demanded justice from Zhao Yongxu.
• Li Zhiwu threatened that the Zhengyi Sect could undermine the southern battlefront unless Zhao Hongming was handed over to guard the dead woman’s grave for three years.
• Zhao Yongxu presented Li Zhiwu with the severed head of a martial man from the Imperial City Division who had associated with Zhengyi Sect disciples.
• Zhao Yongxu invoked the Seven Stars Heaven Severing Grand Formation and crushed Li Zhiwu with its pressure, making him spit blood.

Li Zhiwu left the palace badly injured after the Jian'an Emperor punished him but spared his life, and he resolved to kill the Fifth Prince. At the Martial Repository Pavilion, Zhao Hongming mastered the Bone Forging Skin Changing Art and fashioned a new appearance.

• Jian'an Emperor Zhao Yongxu used the Seven Stars Heaven Severing Grand Formation to crush Li Zhiwu to his knees, then hurled him out of Qianqing Palace.
• Li Zhiwu realized Zhao Yongxu would not dare kill him, but discovered he had lost thirty to forty percent of his strength and went to leave the palace.
• Li Zhiwu vowed to kill the Fifth Prince and expected his injuries to inflame the Zhengyi Sect against the emperor.
• Zhao Yongxu admitted he had been too impulsive, then left the hall to eat while Feng Dabao followed.
• Zhao Hongming studied the Bone Forging Skin Changing Art, used the Heaven's Reward system to reach Great Mastery, and changed his reflection into a handsome, weathered face.

After learning that Jian'an Emperor had badly injured Li Zhiwu, Zhao Hongming suspected Feng Dabao was trying to repair his relationship with his father. He instead saw Li Zhiwu’s injuries as a chance to confront the man and left the palace to pursue him.

• Zhao Hongming returned to Clear Breeze Pavilion, ate the meal Gao Yanshi had prepared, and considered rewarding him with a Martial Arts cultivation method.
• Wang Bao reported that Li Zhiwu had entered Qianqing Palace, clashed with Jian'an Emperor, and left after being beaten until he vomited blood.
• Zhao Hongming inferred that Feng Dabao had sent the news to remind him of Jian'an Emperor’s sacrifice and encourage him to mend their relationship.
• Zhao Hongming decided to take advantage of Li Zhiwu’s injuries, fearing the man would seek revenge for his daughter’s death.
• Zhao Hongming left for Noon Gate and passed through the palace guards without being stopped.

After Zhao Hongming failed to find Li Zhiwu in Great Liang City, he tracked down a group of Zhengyi Sect martial artists and learned which road to follow. He pursued Li Zhiwu and his escorts through the forest, where the injured elder sensed someone approaching.

• Li Zhiwu ordered Ma Le to disperse most of their hidden forces and keep only two martial artists to escort him back to the Zhengyi Sect.
• Zhao Hongming searched Great Liang City for Li Zhiwu, overheard martial artists discussing Elder Li, and questioned them about the road north of Li Mountain.
• Zhao Hongming left the city and hurried along the road north of Li Mountain, guessing that Li Zhiwu had taken that route.
• Li Zhiwu swallowed a Pill while walking, then stopped when he sensed a fast-moving pursuer; Ma Le asked what was wrong.

Zhao Hongming ambushed Li Zhiwu and his party, killing the three accompanying martial artists before overwhelming the injured elder. He claimed to be Wei Wuji acting on the Fifth Prince’s orders, then searched the bodies and left the corpses in the forest.

• Zhao Hongming concealed his aura and approached Li Zhiwu, confirming the elder was his target.
• Zhao Hongming used a mountain goat as cover to ambush Ma Le and two other martial artists, killing all three.
• Zhao Hongming fought Li Zhiwu and exploited the elder’s injuries, using the Yang Extreme state to shatter his Dharma Form.
• Zhao Hongming dragged Li Zhiwu back as he tried to flee and killed him after claiming to be Wei Wuji, Young Master Ming’s foremost martial artist, sent by the Fifth Prince.
• Zhao Hongming searched the bodies, disposed of the corpses in the forest, and reflected that he could defeat anyone in the Innate Realm but remained too weak.

After killing Li Zhiwu, Zhao Hongming returned to Great Liang City and eliminated the three Zhengyi Sect Martial Warriors who had helped track Li Zhiwu. He returned safely to the Imperial Palace, where Feng Dabao suspected the Fifth Prince was a ruthless hero.

• Zhao Hongming burned most of the belongings he had taken from Li Zhiwu and returned to Great Liang City, believing he had concealed his involvement.
• Zhao Hongming went to Hibiscus Pavilion after learning that three of Li Zhiwu's men were there.
• Zhao Hongming broke into the men's private room and killed all three Martial Warriors, then silenced the two singing girls who witnessed the attack.
• Zhao Hongming left Hibiscus Pavilion and returned to the Imperial Palace about an hour later.
• Feng Dabao learned Zhao Hongming had left the palace and ordered his subordinate to report every detail concerning the Fifth Prince.
• Feng Dabao reflected that Zhao Hongming was no simple man and likely had the bearing of a ruthless hero.

After Zhao Hongming killed Li Zhiwu, Emperor Zhao Yongxu quietly strengthened his protection and worked to contain the Zhengyi Sect’s response. Zhao Hongming learned that the sect had suppressed news of Li Shengnan’s death and began considering how to build a more reliable circle of supporters.

• Feng Dabao reported his suspicion that Zhao Hongming had pursued and killed Li Zhiwu, and Zhao Yongxu arranged for the Huo Family ancestor to smooth things over with the Zhengyi Sect.
• Zhao Yongxu secretly increased Zhao Hongming’s guards and sent him pills and wish stones while Zhao Hongming kept a low profile.
• Zhao Hongguan visited Zhao Hongming and told him that Li Shengnan had died at the Zhengyi Sect and that an elder had forbidden discussion of the matter.
• Zhao Hongguan urged Zhao Hongming to ask Zhao Yongxu for more experts before receiving a fief, and Zhao Hongming resolved to cultivate his own forces.
• After seeing Gao Yanshi escort Zhao Hongguan out, Zhao Hongming considered developing the clever young eunuch into a trusted aide.

Zhao Hongming decided to invest in the people around him and chose Gao Yanshi to cultivate, giving him a Meridian Cleansing Pill and taking him to the Martial Repository Pavilion. Gao Yanshi entered the pavilion with Zhao Hongming, believing his chance to rise had finally come.

• Zhao Hongming asked Gao Yanshi whether he wanted to cultivate Martial Arts and promised to take him to the Martial Repository Pavilion to choose a manual.
• Zhao Hongming gave Gao Yanshi a Meridian Cleansing Pill, and Gao Yanshi swallowed it and vowed to repay the prince by working hard in Martial Arts.
• Zhao Hongming considered the potential of Gao Yanshi, Wang Bao, and Chang Wubing, deciding Gao Yanshi was the one most worth cultivating further.
• Zhao Hongming took Gao Yanshi to the Martial Repository Pavilion, where the guards let them enter after Feng Dabao had arranged for their passage.

Zhao Hongming brought Gao Yanshi to the Martial Repository Pavilion to choose a suitable eunuch cultivation technique, then spent the day studying powerful Martial Skills himself. The chapter ended with Gao Yanshi finishing his selection and Zhao Hongming asking which Martial Arts he had chosen.

• A steward welcomed Zhao Hongming and agreed to help Gao Yanshi find a higher-grade Martial Arts technique for eunuchs.
• The steward directed Gao Yanshi to hard-body Martial Arts, and Gao Yanshi carefully chose and studied a manual.
• Zhao Hongming asked Steward Wang to gather the strongest Martial Skills from the first and second floors.
• Zhao Hongming received fifteen manuals and spent the day memorizing and studying them, beginning with the Thousand Hands Tathagata Palm.
• Gao Yanshi finished choosing a cultivation technique and reminded Zhao Hongming that evening was approaching.
• Zhao Hongming rose and asked Gao Yanshi which Martial Arts he had chosen.

Zhao Hongming supported Gao Yanshi’s Martial Arts training as the Three Kingdoms withdrew from their war against Wei. After further cultivation, Zhao Hongming broke through to Innate Third Grade.

• Gao Yanshi chose the Tianshan Child Art, and Zhao Hongming encouraged him to study more manuals at the Martial Repository Pavilion.
• After Gao Yanshi opened his meridians in just over twenty days, Zhao Hongming recognized his talent, humility, and usefulness as an attendant.
• Gao Yanshi reported that Chu, Zhao, and Han were showing signs of withdrawing their troops, and Bi Lingjun returned Wei’s God-Demon Weapon to the palace.
• Zhao Hongming continued cultivating for seven or eight days until his Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique was ready to advance.
• Zhao Hongming broke through from Innate Second Grade to Innate Third Grade, while none of his eighteen Martial Skills had reached perfection.

Over ten months, Zhao Hongming focused on perfecting his martial arts while the Wei court was unsettled by factional politics and the south suffered drought and displacement. He used Heaven’s Reward to combine and breakthrough several arts, gaining three unknown techniques and a surge of physical power.

• Envoys from Chu, Zhao, and Han failed to reach agreements with Wei, and the countries maintained the status quo after the war.
• Refugees fled the drought-stricken south, weakening Wei’s National Destiny, while court factions gathered around the Fourth and Seventh Princes and Zhao Hongming stayed outside the succession struggle.
• Zhao Hongming spent ten months cultivating and brought the Heaven Splitting Demon Hand, Celestial God Leg, and Vajra Divine Shroud to perfection, but found his martial arts did not work together smoothly.
• Zhao Hongming activated Heaven’s Reward to draw on the strengths of many arts and forge his own school of thought.
• The breakthrough gave Zhao Hongming three unknown techniques and released powerful force from his body, which he tested while withstanding the pressure of National Destiny.

Zhao Hongming tested his newly fused Martial Skills by destroying a hill in the Southern Garden, drawing the Jian'an Emperor’s attention. He admitted to the feat but claimed he remained in the Innate Realm, then declared he wanted to leave Daliang for his fief.

• Zhao Hongming named his fused Martial Skills Mountain Shattering, Demon Suppression, and Mountain Moving.
• Zhao Hongming used Demon Suppression, Mountain Moving, and Mountain Shattering to flatten a hill in the Southern Garden before escaping with Desolations Secret Travel.
• Shen Hong reported the destroyed hill to the Jian'an Emperor, who ordered Feng Dabao to investigate.
• Feng Dabao identified Zhao Hongming as the likely culprit, and the Jian'an Emperor summoned him to Qianqing Palace.
• Zhao Hongming admitted he had destroyed the hill but denied reaching the Martial Courage Realm, saying he remained in the Innate Realm.
• The Jian'an Emperor asked whether Zhao Hongming wanted to remain in Daliang or take up his fief, and Zhao Hongming chose to go.

Zhao Hongming asked to take up a fief, and the Jian'an Emperor revealed that the Martial Dao was declining and that National Destiny was the world’s only path to immortality. Zhao Hongming accepted Ying Commandery and resolved to pursue both National Destiny and the Martial Dao, while Bi Lingjun arrived to demand that the emperor honor his promise.

• Zhao Hongming told the Jian'an Emperor he wanted to leave the palace and see the wider world, rather than remain sheltered in the Imperial Palace.
• The Jian'an Emperor explained that the Martial Dao would eventually be severed and that National Destiny offered the only path to immortality.
• The Jian'an Emperor revealed Wei’s Ancestral Teachings: unify the realm, and Zhao Hongming recognized the throne might be part of his future plans.
• The Jian'an Emperor said he would make Zhao Hongming king of Ying Commandery, and Zhao Hongming accepted the decree.
• Bi Lingjun arrived and told the Jian'an Emperor she had come to make him honor his promise; Zhao Hongming felt her formidable aura and vowed to forge his own path.

Zhao Hongming learned that he would soon establish a manor and receive a king title, while Emperor Zhao Yongxu negotiated with Zhengyi Sect Leader Bi Lingjun and ordered his formal investiture. The chapter ended with Zhao Hongming named Martial King and assigned Ying Commandery as his fief.

• Bi Lingjun pressed Emperor Zhao Yongxu to honor his promises to the Zhengyi Sect, and he asked for three more months to provide the Wish Stones.
• Bi Lingjun offered to send Zhengyi Sect martial artists to protect Zhao Hongming, and Zhao Yongxu ordered an edict granting him the title of Martial King.
• Zhao Hongming told Chang Wubing, Gao Yanshi, and his other aides to prepare for their departure to his fief.
• Zhao Hongming assigned Wang Bao to manage Clear Breeze Pavilion in the palace and gave him gold and Wish Stones.
• Three days later, Emperor Zhao Yongxu formally named Zhao Hongming the Martial King and granted him Ying Commandery as his fief.

After Zhao Hongming was invested as Wei’s Martial King, he prepared to leave the Imperial Palace and travel to Ying Commandery to take up his fief. He set out with Imperial Guards and a pact with Zhao Hongguang, while a woman watched him depart.

• Chen Cheng'an told Chen Xuerong that Zhao Hongming had been named the Martial King, and she sent him back to his training.
• Huo Xianshui dismissed Zhao Hongming as an ordinary prince while discussing him with her second brother.
• Zhao Hongming received a Thousand-Li Horse, requested leave to take up his fief, and waited outside the city with Chang Wubing and Gao Yanshi.
• Zhao Hongguang came to see Zhao Hongming off and offered to provide him with skilled men, but Zhao Hongming showed him the Imperial Guards assigned to accompany him.
• Zhao Hongming and Zhao Hongguang renewed their pact to support each other, and Zhao Hongming rode toward Ying Commandery as a woman in black watched from a hillside.