Chapter Summaries

Wu Qi led the Wei Elite Soldiers into the Yin Kingdom tomb and organized the removal of its treasures, giving Zhao Hongming a stronger base in Ying Commandery. The news reached Daliang, where the Jian'an Emperor praised Zhao Hongming’s success and Zhao Hongli recognized him as a potential rival for the throne.

• Wu Qi led the uneasy Wei Elite Soldiers into the tomb, where they found the passages safe and began carrying out its burial goods under strict supervision.
• Ma Chuanping argued that the soldiers had a future serving Zhao Hongming, while Le Yang speculated that Wei Wuji supported the prince to gain influence.
• Wu Qi ordered his men to dismantle and pack the True Dragon’s body, and the soldiers cleared the tomb of its treasures over a day and night.
• Zhao Hongming secured the transported goods with Bright Cult disciples, while the Wang Family and other forces in Ying Commandery could no longer challenge his control.
• Feng Daban reported Zhao Hongming’s victories to the Jian'an Emperor, who celebrated his son’s growing strength.
• Zhao Hongli learned that a Martial Courage Realm warrior was supporting Zhao Hongming and considered him a possible contender for the Crown Prince position.

Chang Wubing, Gao Yanshi, and Zhang Yi arranged servants for the Martial King Residence while Zhao Hongming refined True Dragon Blood and began cultivating the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body. After he broke through to First Rank Meridian Opening, five former companions of Chen ShengHai arrived at the residence.

• Chang Wubing proposed placing Chen Family Village's maidservants in the Martial King Residence, but Zhang Yi warned they might be dangerous, so they agreed to sell them and buy servants elsewhere.
• Chang Wubing asked Gao Yanshi to investigate Chen ShengHai's five beautiful attendants before bringing them into the residence.
• Zhao Hongming chose to cultivate the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body before the Martial Beginning Scripture and refined True Dragon Blood through daily medicinal baths.
• After ten days of cultivation, Zhao Hongming used Heaven's Reward to break through the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body to First Rank Meridian Opening.
• Gao Yanshi asked Zhao Hongming whether he wished to inspect prospective servants, and Zhao Hongming told him to choose capable and reliable people.
• The five former companions of Chen ShengHai arrived at the Martial King Residence and entered, following the lead of the beautiful woman among them.

Zhao Hongming accepted five women from Chen Family Village into his residence while beginning cultivation of the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body. After discovering Beautiful Woman secretly used a silk sparrow to contact Book Driving Study, he learned the site was connected to Zhao Country’s Black-Clad Society and questioned its presence in his fief.

• Gao Yanshi brought five women from Chen Family Village to serve Zhao Hongming, who allowed them into the residence but remained wary of their backgrounds.
• Zhao Hongming cultivated the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body to the Aperture Opening Realm, and his Talent Enhancement rose to level 5.
• Zhao Hongming spotted Beautiful Woman sending a jade slip by black silk sparrow to Book Driving Study and secretly followed the bird to identify the location.
• Zhao Hongming instructed Gao Yanshi to investigate Book Driving Study discreetly, and the inquiry linked it to Zhao Country’s Black-Clad Society.
• Zhao Hongming learned the Black-Clad Society served Zhao Country’s Vast Righteous Sect and had ties to Zhao Country’s royal family, then wondered why it was operating in his fief.

Zhao Hongming investigated the Black-Clad Society’s presence near Ying Commandery while preparing defenses, then Zhang Yubao and Tiger Hall’s men were trapped and drained by an Upper Immortal Sect daoist. The chapter ended with Zhao Hongming breaking through and initiating the Array Dao Scripture.

• Zhao Hongming ordered Gao Yanshi to watch the Wei-Zhao border after learning that Zhao Country’s Black-Clad Society specialized in intelligence gathering.
• Zhao Hongming kept the Black-Clad Society’s spy alive as a hidden pawn, delegated Ying Commandery’s affairs to Zhang Yi, and ordered Wu Qi to recruit more Wei Elite Soldiers.
• Zhang Yubao found a village’s residents slaughtered and discovered triangular Array Flags planted around it.
• An old daoist appeared, vanished when Tiger Hall’s disciples attacked, and trapped them inside a Blood-Red Light Screen that drained their life force.
• Zhang Yubao recognized the daoist as a practitioner from the Upper Immortal Sect before he and his men died, allowing the daoist to absorb their vitality.
• Zhao Hongming broke through the Array Dao Scripture and changed it from not yet initiated to initiated.

Zhao Hongming inscribed a National Destiny defensive array into his body, then rushed to investigate attacks on the Bright Cult. At Stone Bridge Village, he found a message identifying the Upper Immortal Sect, though its role in the killings remained uncertain.

• Zhao Hongming used the Array Dao Scripture’s Flesh Body Imprint Technique to inscribe a permanent defensive array powered by National Destiny.
• Gao Yanshi delivered reports that Zhang Yubao and other Bright Cult members had been killed in separate attacks, prompting Zhao Hongming to suspect the cult was being targeted.
• Gao Yanshi named the mysterious Upper Immortal Sect as a possible threat, and Zhao Hongming reprimanded him for lacking intelligence before heading to Tiger Hall.
• Zhao Hongming ordered the Bright Cult’s leaders to investigate the attacks, then learned from Chang Wubing that the victims’ essence and qi had been drained.
• Zhao Hongming and Chang Wubing examined the corpses at Stone Bridge Village, where a disciple found the words “Upper Immortal Sect” carved into Zhang Yubao’s chest.

Zhao Hongming discovered evidence that the Upper Immortal Sect was using the Nine Netherworlds Essence-Seizing Array to extract people’s vital essence, while the sect’s Daoist Gate had become a ruin. After the Longevity Daoist slaughtered the Azure Wave Sect, Zhao Hongming warned the Bright Cult and began planning to lure the Daoist into a trap.

• Zhao Hongming found a hidden mark on Zhang Yubao’s body identifying the Upper Immortal Sect and ordered Chang Wubing to investigate it.
• Zhao Hongming found a discarded Triangular Formation Flag and recognized it as the formation eye of the Nine Netherworlds Essence-Seizing Array.
• Ma Bo and his sworn brothers linked the deaths of Bright Cult members to the Upper Immortal Sect’s Longevity Pills and discussed fleeing Ying Commandery.
• The Longevity Daoist appeared at the Azure Wave Sect, where dried corpses fell from the sky, and slaughtered Ma Bo and the sect’s people.
• Gao Yanshi told Zhao Hongming that the Azure Wave Sect had been wiped out and the Upper Immortal Sect’s Daoist Gate was deserted and ruined.
• Zhao Hongming told Chang Wubing to make the Bright Cult act cautiously and considered using an array formation to trap and eliminate the Longevity Daoist.

Zhao Hongming went to the Bright Cult’s Main Hall after Upper Immortal Sect Daoists attacked its branches, only to find the courtyard trapped inside an Obscuring Array. He defeated the Longevity Grand Array’s priest and destroyed him, leaving the Bright Cult’s surviving members to witness his strength.

• Zhao Hongming ordered Gao Yanshi to gather the Bright Cult at its Main Hall and placed Zhang Yi in charge of prefecture affairs.
• A Bright Cult disciple reported that another branch hall had been struck and seven or eight people had been turned into Dried Corpses.
• Zhao Hongming entered the Main Hall with the returning Bright Cult higher-ups, where they discovered an Obscuring Array that made people vanish and sealed the doors.
• The Upper Immortal Sect Old Daoist appeared, and Zhao Hongming shattered the Obscuring Array after knocking him back.
• The priest activated the Nine Netherworlds Essence-Seizing Array, but Zhao Hongming’s Qi Sea Seal God Array protected him and he overwhelmed the priest with repeated attacks.
• Zhao Hongming blasted the Upper Immortal Sect priest’s head apart, killing him as the Bright Cult’s higher-ups watched.

Zhao Hongming killed Longevity Daoist and uncovered the Upper Immortal Sect’s human-sacrifice experiments, including a regenerative creature, a Heaven Worship Array scroll, and a cellar full of drained refugees. After destroying the sect, he returned to the Martial King Residence, where the Beautiful Woman used a Jade Sound Cicada to investigate whether the Martial King and Wei Wuji were the same person.

• Zhao Hongming defeated and killed Longevity Daoist, then led Bright Cult members to investigate the Upper Immortal Sect on Nameless Mountain.
• Zhao Hongming found dried Daoists in the Great Hero Hall and fought a strange creature that repeatedly regenerated after being dismembered.
• A Bright Cult disciple found a Human Skin Scroll describing the Heaven Worship Array and a human-based alchemical art.
• Zhao Hongming discovered refugees drained of their essence in a cellar, ordered the corpses burned, and took the regenerative creature into custody.
• Zhao Hongming returned to the Martial King Residence after the Upper Immortal Sect’s destruction left him in control of Ying Commandery.
• The Beautiful Woman sent a Jade Sound Cicada toward the Martial King’s Practice Room and saw Wei Wuji appear outside.

Zhao Hongming used the Obscuring Array to plant false intelligence about his identity, but spies in Lu Ling City debated reports that he could cultivate and considered investigating him and the Bright Cult Leader. In the Wei Elite Soldiers' camp, Quan Erbao tried to desert after resenting Ma Chuanping's success, but Ma caught him in the act.

• Zhao Hongming set up the Obscuring Array to make a false Zhao Hongming appear to speak with Wei Wuji, leading the beautiful woman to believe they were different people.
• The beautiful woman sent her observations from the Martial King Residence to Book Driving Study, where the Man with Sword Eyebrows and Starry Eyes and the refined man compared them with reports that Zhao Hongming might be an Innate Martial Artist.
• The Man with Sword Eyebrows and Starry Eyes ordered further investigation of Zhao Hongming, the Bright Cult Leader, and the Wei Elite Soldiers while General Li Mu prepared an army near the Wei-Zhao Border.
• Quan Erbao resented Ma Chuanping's promotions and rewards, then decided to flee the Wei Elite Soldiers' camp with his valuables.
• Ma Chuanping secretly followed Quan Erbao and confronted him as he tried to crawl through a dog hole and desert.

Quan Erbao escaped the Wei Elite Soldiers’ camp after poisoning Ma Chuanping, who reported Quan’s warning of a possible Zhao Country attack on Ying Commandery to General Wu. Meanwhile, Zhao Hongming advanced the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body to the Innate Realm and formed the Thunder Extinction Body.

• Quan Erbao used a Black Pill’s poisonous smoke to paralyze Ma Chuanping, then crawled through a dog hole and fled into the forest.
• A patrol found Ma Chuanping, and Le Yang helped him report Quan Erbao’s warning about Li Mu preparing a surprise attack on Ying Commandery to Wu Qi.
• Wu Qi treated Ma Chuanping’s report as a merit that offset his deserter-related punishment, while Le Yang received fifty lashes but was spared facial tattooing.
• Zhao Hongming broke through the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body to Innate First Grade and formed the Thunder Extinction Body.

After Zhao Hongming advanced the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body, Wu Qi warned him that Zhao Country’s Li Mu might attack Ying Commandery, prompting Zhao Hongming to order the Wei Elite Soldiers expanded to thirty thousand. As Zhao Hongming sent Gao Yanshi to verify the threat and watch the Black-Clad Society, its agents in Lu Ling City discussed probing the Martial King Residence more deeply.

• Zhao Hongming broke through to the Innate Realm, tested his strengthened Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body, and received Wu Qi in the study.
• Wu Qi reported that Li Mu might raise an army of one hundred thousand against Ying Commandery, and Zhao Hongming ordered the Wei Elite Soldiers expanded from three thousand to thirty thousand under cover of the Bright Cult.
• Zhao Hongming ordered Gao Yanshi to monitor the Black-Clad Society and infiltrate Zhao Country to confirm Li Mu’s recruitment.
• At the Book Driving Study, Shu Ziteng told a man with sword eyebrows and starry eyes that their investigations into Zhao Hongming and the Bright Cult had yielded little.
• The man ordered Shu Ziteng to make their scout in the Martial King Residence probe deeper, even if she risked exposure.

Tang Zai ordered Shu Ziteng to use a spy in the Martial King Residence to assassinate Zhao Hongming and test his strength, but Gu Bin overheard their plan and alerted Gao Yanshi. After learning that the Vast Righteous Sect had sent Tang Zai to investigate him, Zhao Hongming ambushed and killed Tang Zai, while the spy remained alive for later use.

• Tang Zai ordered Shu Ziteng to have the spy from the Martial King Residence attack Zhao Hongming in Chen ShengHai's name, and Tang Zai killed a beggar child who had overheard them.
• Gu Bin used his concealment Array Flag to escape detection, reported the conversation to Gao Yanshi, and Gao Yanshi sent Liang Ying to investigate the two men from the Book Driving Study.
• Shu Ziteng's order left the beautiful woman in the Martial King Residence despairing, while Zhao Hongming continued testing the Upper Immortal Sect monster and discovered its regeneration had slowed.
• Gao Yanshi told Zhao Hongming that Tang Zai had come to investigate his cultivation and that the spy was meant to assassinate him; Zhao Hongming decided to spare the spy for now and kill Tang Zai.
• Zhao Hongming ambushed Tang Zai as he left the Ten Thousand Flowers Brothel, shattered his arm, pierced his chest, and left him dead.

Zhao Hongming killed Tang Zai, prompting the Beautiful Woman’s mission to remain undercover to be cancelled and the Vast Righteous Sect to plan for a campaign against Ying Commandery. A month later, Zhao Hongming learned that the sect was backing Li Mu’s preparations and ordered more surveillance and false intelligence as he continued training for the coming battle.

• Zhao Hongming, disguised as Wei Wuji, killed Tang Zai with two punches and returned to the Martial King Residence.
• Zheng Yunqiang told Shu Ziteng that Tang Zai had been killed, and Shu Ziteng reported the news to the Beautiful Woman.
• The Beautiful Woman received orders cancelling her undercover mission and fell asleep relieved.
• Li Zixu urged the Vast Righteous Sect elders to support Li Mu’s planned invasion of Ying Commandery and seek the National Destiny Seal.
• Gao Yanshi reported that the Vast Righteous Sect was supporting Li Mu and that Zhao Country’s king had little real authority.
• Zhao Hongming ordered increased surveillance and false intelligence for the Beautiful Woman, then reviewed his cultivation progress.

The Jian'an Emperor agreed to secretly arm Zhao Hongming’s growing force after learning that Zhao Country planned to attack Ying Commandery. At the year-end banquet, Zhao Hongming rewarded his confidants and prepared for the coming threats before beginning another round of cultivation with a new idea in mind.

• Feng Dabao reported that Li Mu was gathering one hundred thousand soldiers to attack Ying Commandery, and Zhao Hongming requested weapons and armor to build his own army.
• The Jian'an Emperor ordered Chen Mou to secretly deliver military supplies to Zhao Hongming under the pretext of supplying the Eastern Army.
• At the New Year banquet, Zhao Hongming toasted his confidants, reflected on his gains, and warned them about Li Mu and the Vast Righteous Sect.
• Zhao Hongming rewarded Wu Qi with the Killing Scripture, returned Gao Yanshi’s treasure, and gave Chang Wubing a longsword and Zhang Yi a residence deed.
• After reading letters from Zhao Hongguang and Chen Xuerong, Zhao Hongming began cultivating and wondered what would happen if he mastered both Immortal Martial Arts Techniques.

Zhao Hongming refined the Thunder Annihilation Dharma Body, equipped the expanding Wei Elite Soldiers, and prepared Ying Commandery for a possible invasion by Zhao Country. As Li Mu gathered his forces, Pu Yuanqing tried to persuade Lu Zonghui to withhold the Eastern Army’s support until the Jian'an Emperor met his demands.

• Zhao Hongming refined True Dragon Blood and precious medicinal ingredients, then discovered that the power of thunder enhanced his saber and its Blade Qi.
• Zhao Hongming ordered Gao Yanshi to have Zhang Yi and Wu Qi distribute one hundred thousand sets of military supplies to the Wei Elite Soldiers and sent General Wu the Triangular Formation Flags.
• Zhao Hongming learned that Li Mu was still gathering troops and that worsening security and halted trade had left Ying Commandery under mounting pressure.
• Pu Yuanqing visited Lu Zonghui in Tai City and revealed that the Jian'an Emperor had secretly sent one hundred thousand sets of arms and armor to Zhao Hongming.
• Pu Yuanqing urged Lu Zonghui to negotiate with the Jian'an Emperor and delay deciding whether to defend Ying Commandery; Lu Zonghui said he would consider it.

Zhao Hongming broke through to Martial Courage Third Grade and fused his Dharma Forms into a powerful Thunder Spear technique. As Zhao Country prepared to invade Ying Commandery, a spy received an order to assassinate him, but Zhao Hongming detected and neutralized the poison in a Beautiful Woman’s fragrance, then called her to stay.

• Lu Zonghui investigated whether the Jian'an Emperor had given Zhao Hongming one hundred thousand soldiers and armor, hoping to use the grant as leverage.
• Zhao Hongming broke through to Martial Courage Third Grade, and his Eternal Youth Dharma Form took on lightning armor and a Thunder Spear.
• Zhao Hongming tested the Thunder Spear against his practice-room array and damaged it with a strike on the level of a Martial Courage Realm warrior.
• Scholars in Lu Ling City discussed Zhao Country’s planned invasion and criticized the Jian'an Emperor and Zhao Hongming’s preparations for defending Ying Commandery.
• Shu Ziteng discovered a secret order from Zhao Country to kill Martial King, and the Beautiful Woman received the message at the Martial King Residence.
• Zhao Hongming detected poison in the Beautiful Woman’s fragrance, purged it with his True Intents, and asked her to stay behind.

Zhao Hongming uncovered an assassination plot by the Black-Clad Society and suspected Zhao Country Li Mu would attack Ying Commandery ahead of schedule. He mobilized defenses, while the Jian'an Emperor secured court support to send additional aid to the commandery.

• Zhao Hongming pretended to welcome the beautiful woman, secretly took material from her poisoned sachet, and ordered Gao Yanshi to identify it.
• Li Mu surveyed the border with Zhao Country and planned to provoke a pretext for attacking Ying Commandery before the enemy expected it.
• Gao Yanshi confirmed the sachet held a chronic poison that could kill its victim in about fifteen days, and Zhao Hongming summoned Wu Qi and Zhang Yi to prepare for an early attack.
• Zhao Hongming ordered Wu Qi to deploy defenses within fifteen days and appointed Zhang Yi Grand Commandant of Logistics.
• The Jian'an Emperor consulted his ministers about Zhao Country’s impending attack, and they supported sending additional troops and provisions to aid Ying Commandery.

Zhao Hongming received word that the Jian'an Emperor would send reinforcements, while Lu Zonghui secretly planned to withhold his troops and use Ying Commandery as leverage. After the beautiful woman’s poison failed to harm Zhao Hongming, he took her to the Book Driving Study and had its shopkeeper killed, beginning his move against the conspirators.

• Lu Zonghui accepted the imperial order to support Ying Commandery but decided to wait until Zhao Hongming was in danger before offering help.
• Zhao Hongming learned that nearly ten thousand Martial Warriors and General Cen Xiu would eventually arrive, though he would have to hold out in the meantime.
• The beautiful woman waited for her poison to take effect, but Zhao Hongming remained healthy through the fifteenth day.
• Zhao Hongming arranged for Guard Chang to prepare, then invited the beautiful woman to accompany him outside the Martial King Residence.
• The beautiful woman led Zhao Hongming and his guards to the Book Driving Study, where Zhao Hongming ordered the shopkeeper killed and two attackers struck him down.

Zhao Hongming exposed and executed five women from the Black-Clad Society as spies while preparing for war with Zhao Country. He visited Wu Qi’s camp to inspect the Wei Elite Soldiers, whose disciplined formation impressed him.

• Zhao Hongming’s Martial Warriors defeated the Black-Clad Society spy, and she revealed that she had targeted Chen ShengHai and investigated Zhao Hongming’s identity.
• Zhao Hongming ordered the spy and the four other women from Chen Family Village executed in the marketplace, then set out to inspect the Wei Elite Soldiers.
• At the camp, Wu Qi reported that the army had 30,628 Martial Warriors and invited Zhao Hongming to inspect their training.
• Ma Chuanping and Le Yang discussed the coming battle before the Wei Elite Soldiers greeted Zhao Hongming in a thunderous formation.

Zhao Hongming inspected Wu Qi’s thirty thousand Wei Elite Soldiers and approved of their training and organization. Meanwhile, Quan Erbao learned that Li Mu’s army was advancing, and Li Mu crossed into Ying Commandery and began attacking Hexi City.

• Zhao Hongming ordered Wu Qi to assemble the camp’s thirty thousand Wei Elite Soldiers, then inspected their formations and learned how Wu Qi had organized them into archers, halberd soldiers, sword-and-shield soldiers, and logistics troops.
• Quan Erbao, having escaped the Wei Elite Soldiers camp, heard people in Hedong City discuss Li Mu’s approaching army and watched Li Mu’s chariot troops pass through the streets.
• Li Mu learned that Zhao Hongming had uncovered his scheme and killed the spies, but decided to proceed with the campaign because his opportunity at Hexi City could not wait.
• Li Mu’s troops crossed the river into Ying Commandery and hurried toward Hexi City, drawn by promises of Wish Stones.
• The County Soldiers spotted Li Mu’s army outside Hexi City and sounded the alarm, and Li Mu ordered a forced march and siege.