Chapter Summaries

Gu Shaoshang arrived at the Dugu Clan courtyard and faced the Four Great Holy Monks after Xiang Yutian withdrew. As the monks launched a coordinated attack, Gu Shaoshang answered with a terrifyingly powerful utterance that left the courtyard crushed beneath him.

• Gu Shaoshang arrived to take on Daoxin and the other three monks, and Xiang Yutian left the courtyard.
• Shi Wansui ordered his soldiers to withdraw, while You Chuhong and Dugu Ba discussed Dugu Feng’s removal and the Dugu Clan’s predicament.
• Jiaxiang accused Gu Shaoshang of serving Yang Guang and causing deaths in Lingnan, among the Turks, and in Yang Yong’s case.
• Gu Shaoshang questioned the monks about how someone stained with blood could become a Buddha, and Daoxin, Dixin, Zhihui, and Jiaxiang attacked together.
• Gu Shaoshang said, “Put down the butcher’s knife, and become a Buddha on the spot,” and his voice blasted apart the currents and crushed the ground beneath him.

Gu Shaoshang fought the four Buddhist monks in the Dugu Clan courtyard and overwhelmed them with his physical strength. The battle devastated the courtyard and killed most of the Dugu Clan members, while Di Xin survived despite his severe injuries.

• Gu Shaoshang seized Di Xin's meditation staff and struck him with a punch as Wisdom, Dao Xin, and Jia Xiang attacked together.
• Gu Shaoshang broke Di Xin's staff and drove him into the earth, while his counterattack shattered Wisdom's palm and broke Dao Xin's arm.
• The collision of their attacks wrecked the courtyard, killing most of the Dugu Clan members as You Chuhong escaped with Dugu Ba.
• Dao Xin and the other monks acknowledged Gu Shaoshang's strength after climbing from the ruins.
• Gu Shaoshang uncovered Di Xin, who was badly wounded but still alive.

Daoxin, Jiaxiang, and Zhihui sacrificed their lives to save Dixin, and Gu Shaoshang let the surviving monk leave Daxing. After You Chuhong killed Dugu Ba and herself, Gu Shaoshang searched for Cihang Jingzhai and entered the Imperial Study, where the chapter left him preparing to inspect the palace’s most precious treasure.

• Daoxin, Jiaxiang, and Zhihui poured their vital essence and true qi into Dixin, healing his shattered body at the cost of their lives.
• Dixin awakened, mourned the three monks, and carried their bodies away as Gu Shaoshang ordered Shi Wansui to escort them out of Daxing.
• You Chuhong threatened Yang Guang and the great clans, then killed Dugu Ba and herself; Shi Wansui ordered the Dugu Clan’s assets seized and hurried to find Yang Su.
• Gu Shaoshang searched Daxing for Cihang Jingzhai but found none of its members, then entered the Imperial Study unseen.
• Gu Shaoshang left the Imperial Study at dawn and prepared to inspect the imperial palace’s most precious thing.

Gu Shaoshang investigated the He Shi Bi, whose immense energy opened one of his acupoints before its spiritual force showed him a possible future. The jade seal crumbled, leaving him with a glimpse of a meteor and a sense that a great crisis was approaching.

• Gu Shaoshang entered the hall to examine the He Shi Bi, which had long made him wary.
• Gu Shaoshang probed the jade seal, endured its spiritual assault, and used its energy to open one acupoint.
• The He Shi Bi showed Gu Shaoshang a vision of himself in a dragon robe atop a city wall as a blazing meteor fell, with Yang Su, Xiang Yutian, Yuwen Tuo, and others behind him.
• The vision faded as the He Shi Bi crumbled, leaving its golden corner piece crushed and Gu Shaoshang fearing an approaching crisis.

After consolidating his rule, Gu Shaoshang decided to spread martial arts across Great Sui so he could refine his own path through its practitioners. He tasked Yang Su with studying two divine skills and Shi Zhixuan with distributing hundreds of manuals, rewarding him with the Great Method of Cultivating Demons with Dao Heart.

• Gu Shaoshang decided that mastering his many manuals alone would take too long, so he wrote down his martial arts to spread them throughout the realm.
• Yang Su reported that Buddhist temples were being demolished and their wealth seized, while Gu Shaoshang agreed to delay war against the Turks and confirmed that the Martial Scripture had been widely printed.
• Gu Shaoshang gave Yang Su the Divine Emperor's Unrivaled Blade and Supreme Yang Qi manuals to study and teach him.
• Gu Shaoshang ordered Shi Zhixuan to travel the realm and distribute hundreds of martial arts manuals while recording each recipient's age and life history.
• Gu Shaoshang rewarded Shi Zhixuan with the Great Method of Cultivating Demons with Dao Heart, leaving him astonished.

Gu Shaoshang gave Shi Zhixuan the Great Method of Cultivating Demons with Dao Heart and a collection of martial arts manuals, then used its principles of sensing fluctuations to explore a new power. He demonstrated that his understanding could destroy spatial fluctuations, leaving Xiang Yutian stunned by the force behind Gu Shaoshang’s future fist.

• Gu Shaoshang sent Shi Zhixuan away with the Great Method of Cultivating Demons with Dao Heart and baskets of martial arts manuals, intending for him to choose which manuals to spread.
• Shi Zhixuan studied the demonic manual but set it aside to avoid disrupting the merging of his Flower Sect and Butian Pavilion arts, then examined the manuals and marveled at their quality and quantity.
• Gu Shaoshang discussed the Great Method of Cultivating Demons with Dao Heart with Xiang Yutian and drew inspiration from its account of the fluctuations of all things.
• Gu Shaoshang took Xiang Yutian to the Imperial Guard training grounds and explained that touching or destroying fluctuations could unleash immense power.
• Gu Shaoshang flicked a finger and opened a tiny crack in space by destroying its fluctuations, prompting Xiang Yutian to recognize the terrifying potential of his power.

Gu Shaoshang tested his growing strength against Xiang Yutian, then studied the vast red space inside his opened acupoint and discovered he could form objects from its mist. He used that power to recreate the god leader he had encountered in the Dragon-Snake World and greeted him.

• Gu Shaoshang explained the power of his fist to Xiang Yutian, then struck him with vibrating force and defeated him in their exchange.
• Xiang Yutian agreed to deliver the Divine Emperor's Unrivaled Blade to Song Que and left, promising to return before War God's Hall opened.
• Gu Shaoshang created an incarnation to handle court affairs while he cultivated and comprehended the power of vibration.
• Gu Shaoshang explored the vast red mist within his opened acupoint and shaped it into a refined iron sword.
• Gu Shaoshang used his Sea of Consciousness Power to condense the mist into the god leader from the Dragon-Snake World and greeted him.

Gu Shaoshang tested how his Sea of Consciousness Power could manifest God to practice martial arts, then ordered Yuwen Tuo to expand the intelligence network and monitor the Li Clan and Daoist Sect. Meanwhile, Shi Zhixuan reached Grandmaster mastery and was confronted on the road by figures who called him Pei Ju and the Evil King.

• Gu Shaoshang used most of his Sea of Consciousness Power to manifest God and make him practice Innate Twelve Entanglements before the figure dispersed.
• After recovering, Gu Shaoshang met Yuwen Tuo, who reported that the intelligence network was established and described resistance to the Buddhist sect’s temple dissolutions and the exposure of criminals among its monks.
• Gu Shaoshang ordered Yuwen Tuo to monitor the Li Clan and notify him if anyone from the Daoist Sect emerged.
• Months later, Shi Zhixuan left Daxing after mastering the Undying Seal Method and reaching Grandmaster level.
• As Shi Zhixuan’s carriage traveled through the snow, a group stopped it and asked whether he should be called Pei Ju or the Evil King.

Shi Zhixuan defeated Zhu Yuyan and her companions, sparing Zhu Yuyan but crippling Bian Bufu with the Sunflower Manual. At the Song Clan’s fortress, Song Que received a mysterious blade manual that seemed to surpass his own techniques.

• Zhu Yuyan confronted Shi Zhixuan over their past, and she, Bian Bufu, and Dan Mei attacked him together.
• Shi Zhixuan used his completed Undying Seal Method to defeat Zhu Yuyan, then sent Bian Bufu and Dan Mei flying.
• Shi Zhixuan gave Bian Bufu the Sunflower Manual and left after rejecting Zhu Yuyan’s proposal to unite the Sacred Sect.
• Song Que reflected on his defeat by Gu Shaoshang and learned that Fan Qinghui had left after he avoided meeting her.
• Song Lu delivered a sealed box left by a mysterious black-robed youth, and Song Que opened it to find the Divine Emperor’s Unrivaled Blade manual.
• Song Que read the manual and realized its single blade move surpassed even his own Heavenly Blade technique.

Gu Shaoshang learned that Jingyan Palace would reappear on Liuma Plain and prepared to go there with Xiang Yutian. After receiving news that Great Sui had routed the Turks and was advancing into the Western Turks’ lands, they left Daxing for Liuma Plain.

• Song Que studied the saber manual and resolved to use it to improve his Eight Heavenly Saber Techniques and eventually challenge Gu Shaoshang.
• Xiang Yutian returned to the imperial palace, revealed that he had recovered his strength, and gave Gu Shaoshang the now-empty Evil Emperor's Sarira.
• Xiang Yutian told Gu Shaoshang that Jingyan Palace would appear on Liuma Plain on the thirteenth day of the seventh month and remain for three months.
• Gu Shaoshang revealed that he had sent six hundred thousand troops under Yang Su to attack the Turks.
• A messenger reported that the Sui Army had defeated the Eastern and Western Turks, broken into the Eastern Turkish royal camp, and pursued the Western Turks.
• Gu Shaoshang and Xiang Yutian left Daxing together and rode toward Liuma Plain.

Gu Shaoshang and Xiang Yutian traveled to Emperor's Stomp Peak to confront Cihang Jingzhai, whose abbess had recently died. After forcing their way through the gates, Gu Shaoshang announced that he had come to disband the sect, leaving Fan Qinghui and the assembled nuns shaken.

• Gu Shaoshang explained that the Evil Emperor's Sarira let his avatar endure long enough for the journey to Liuma Plain, then chose to visit Cihang Jingzhai with Xiang Yutian.
• Xiang Yutian asked Gu Shaoshang to spare Cihang Jingzhai if possible, and Gu Shaoshang left the request unanswered as they climbed Emperor's Stomp Peak.
• Two Cihang Jingzhai gatekeepers attacked Gu Shaoshang, who knocked them into the mud; they told him their abbess had died.
• At the vermilion gate, Gu Shaoshang disarmed and severely injured two more nuns, then called for Fan Qinghui.
• Fan Qinghui came out with several hundred disciples and asked why the visitors had forced their way in; Gu Shaoshang identified himself and declared that he had come to disband Jingzhai.

Gu Shaoshang confronted Fan Qinghui over Cihang Jingzhai’s secret dealings and declared that the sect would be destroyed. When its disciples attacked him with the Cihang Sword Formation, he shattered their formation with one punch, leaving Fan Qinghui kneeling and offering Jingzhai to his judgment.

• Gu Shaoshang accused Fan Qinghui of secretly meeting Song Que, Ning Daoqi, and the Guanzhong Aristocrats, then demanded Cihang Jingzhai surrender or face him.
• Fan Qinghui offered to bear responsibility alone, but the disciples drew their swords and surrounded Gu Shaoshang; she knelt and begged him to spare the sect.
• After Gu Shaoshang dismissed her offer, two Grandmaster Realm nuns attacked, and the disciples formed the Cihang Sword Formation.
• Gu Shaoshang deliberately entered the encirclement and destroyed the sword net and sword-qi dragon with one punch, killing the two nuns and many disciples while injuring the rest.
• Fan Qinghui stopped the surviving disciples from rushing Gu Shaoshang, knelt again, and declared that Cihang Jingzhai would await his judgment.

Gu Shaoshang disbanded Cihang Jingzhai and ordered its nuns to serve as palace maids before continuing across the grasslands with Xiang Yutian. There, Anger reunited with Gu Shaoshang and led them toward Yang Su's army, where they found dead Turkic soldiers along the road.

• Gu Shaoshang disbanded Cihang Jingzhai and ordered Fan Qinghui and the other nuns to go to Daxing and serve in the palace.
• Fan Qinghui told Bi Xiuxin to seek Shi Zhixuan's protection, then prepared to descend the mountain with her disciples and the young Feixuan.
• Gu Shaoshang and Xiang Yutian left Emperor's Stomp Peak and traveled across the grasslands toward Liuma Plain.
• Gu Shaoshang called for Anger, whose impressive growth and presence frightened their horses when the Golden-Eyed Eagle landed beside him.
• Gu Shaoshang and Xiang Yutian followed Anger toward Yang Su's army and passed rotting Turkic soldiers being eaten by wolves.

Gu Shaoshang and Xiang Yutian persuaded Yang Su to search Liuma Plain for Jingyan Palace, using an imperial decree to secure the army’s help. After a month of searching, they found the hidden mountain entrance and entered Jingyan Peak, where an ancient palace came into view.

• Gu Shaoshang presented Yang Su with an imperial decree, and Yang Su agreed to lead the army in searching for Jingyan Palace.
• Yang Su sent Yu Juluo, Shi Wansui, and Zhang Xutuo back to Daxing with three hundred thousand soldiers and led the remaining army toward Liuma Plain.
• While the army searched, Gu Shaoshang opened another acupoint and used his Sea of Consciousness Power to teach his self-created fist art to the figure of god.
• The soldiers discovered a mountain that search parties had inexplicably been unable to enter, and Xiang Yutian confirmed that something strange lay within it.
• Yang Su ordered Yuwen Tuo to return to court with the army, then followed Gu Shaoshang and Xiang Yutian into the mountain.
• Xiang Yutian led Gu Shaoshang and Yang Su through Jingyan Peak, where they saw a majestic ancient palace.

Gu Shaoshang forced his way into Jingyan Palace and found War God's Hall beyond a waterfall, where his attack brought out the demonic dragon. Anger attacked the beast, and Gu Shaoshang watched as they began to fight.

• Xiang Yutian said Jingyan Palace would not open for more than ten days, but Gu Shaoshang went to its main gate anyway.
• Gu Shaoshang shattered the palace's stone gate with a punch, then led Xiang Yutian and Yang Su inside.
• Gu Shaoshang crossed the waterfall and found War God's Hall on an island in a vast underground lake.
• Gu Shaoshang stirred the lake, drawing out a gigantic demonic dragon.
• Anger tore flesh from the demonic dragon and continued attacking as the beast lunged at him.

Gu Shaoshang defeated a demonic dragon and reached War God's Hall with Xiang Yutian and Yang Su. The Luo Shu revealed an ancient message calling him “Martial Ancestor,” and the chapter ended as Xiang Yutian entered the vast hall.

• Anger tore out one of the demonic dragon’s eyes, and Gu Shaoshang nearly killed it with a single punch before finishing it and storing its body in the Nine Cauldrons space.
• Gu Shaoshang promised Anger he would help awaken its bloodline after they returned, then led Xiang Yutian and Yang Su toward the island at the lake’s center.
• Gu Shaoshang touched the Luo Shu on the stone turtle and received strange pictographic writing in his mind.
• Xiang Yutian interpreted the writing as “Martial Ancestor... we... are waiting for you,” leaving Gu Shaoshang wondering who had sent the message.
• Gu Shaoshang, Xiang Yutian, and Yang Su climbed the thousand steps to War God's Hall, where Xiang Yutian entered the enormous hall.

Gu Shaoshang entered War God's Hall and comprehended the first relief of the War God's Catalog, gaining a profound understanding of its teachings. After leaving Yang Su to recover and Xiang Yutian to continue studying, Gu Shaoshang meditated by the underground lake and began using the essence of heaven and earth to nourish himself.

• Gu Shaoshang, Yang Su, and Xiang Yutian entered the hall and discovered Guang Chengzi's corpse beneath the star map.
• Gu Shaoshang studied the first relief and experienced visions of the masked War God battling, restoring life to the earth, and departing through a spatial passage.
• Yang Su advanced to the thirty-seventh relief and nearly exhausted himself, so Gu Shaoshang's shout broke his trance and stopped him from continuing.
• After nine days beneath the first relief, Gu Shaoshang said he had comprehended the whole War God's Catalog, while Xiang Yutian continued studying the final relief.
• Gu Shaoshang reunited with Anger by the lake, ate the fish it caught, and meditated as he began drawing the essence of heaven and earth into his body.

After leaving Jingyan Palace, Gu Shaoshang spent more than twenty years building Great Sui into a powerful, prosperous empire. He announced a new martial examination offering four supreme manuals as its prize, and the chapter ended with Gu Shaoshang, Yuwen Tuo, and Shi Zhixuan examining a dossier of rising martial artists.

• Xiang Yutian completed the tempering of his foundation and entered seclusion, while Yang Su departed and Gu Shaoshang stayed to cultivate before leaving Jingyan Palace with Anger.
• Over the next twenty years, Gu Shaoshang's reforms and campaigns expanded Great Sui, spread the Martial Scripture, and brought peace and prosperity to the realm.
• At court, Yuwen Tuo proposed holding the next martial examination on the Double Ninth Festival, and Gu Shaoshang approved it, offering the War God's Catalog, Longevity Art, Cihang Sword Canon, or Great Method of Cultivating Demons with Dao Heart as the prize.
• In the Imperial Study, Gu Shaoshang explained to Shi Feixuan that the martial examination would draw out the talented fighters whose progress he had tracked.
• Yuwen Tuo and Shi Zhixuan reviewed Gu Shaoshang's dossier of dozens of powerful young martial artists, including Li Yuanba, Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, Ba Fenghan, and Yuwen Chengdu.

Gu Shaoshang ordered Pei Qing to gather martial artists in Daxing City and warn them about the approaching Outer Realm Heavenly Demon. On the road to the martial examination, Li Yuanba killed a South Sea Sect disciple with one hammer, and the South Sea Elder, Chao Gongcuo, arrived seeking answers.

• Gu Shaoshang told Yuwen Tuo and the others that the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon could overwhelm even Grandmasters, and vowed that Great Sui would resist it.
• News spread that the martial examination had reopened and its victors could obtain one of the four divine arts, drawing martial artists toward Daxing City.
• Ning Daoqi persuaded Li Yuanba to travel to Daxing City, where he hoped to pursue the divine arts for their martial uncle.
• A young man insulted Li Yuanba and struck his hammer with a sword, so Li Yuanba smashed the man's horse and sent both rider and horse flying to their deaths.
• Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling witnessed the attack as they headed toward Daxing City, while the South Sea Sect learned that one of its disciples had been killed.
• The South Sea Elder, Chao Gongcuo, stepped out of his carriage after hearing what happened.

As the martial examination opened in Daxing, Li Yuanba lost his temper and attacked Huang Gongcuo despite Ning Daoqi's warnings. His hammer destroyed Huang Gongcuo's carriage and killed the remaining disciples, leaving the purple-faced general to confront him.

• Huang Gongcuo learned from Zheng Zhi that Li Yuanba had killed one of his disciples and vowed to settle the score at the martial examination.
• Ning Daoqi and Li Yuanba reached Daxing, where they encountered Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, a red-clad youth seeking revenge against Shi Zhixuan and Pei Ju, and a tall armed youth.
• Huang Gongcuo arrived and recognized Li Yuanba, but held back after the city general proclaimed that fighting in the capital was forbidden.
• Li Yuanba shook off Ning Daoqi and smashed Huang Gongcuo's carriage, killing the horses and Huang Gongcuo's two remaining disciples while injuring bystanders.
• The purple-faced general leaped from the city wall and swung his staff at Li Yuanba.