Chapter Summaries

Jiang Fan questioned Hu Qiuling about the old case involving Jiang Qinian and learned that Qinian had argued with someone about a traitor before leaving for the front. Hu Qiuling suspected Fang Pojun, but Jiang Fan said the lead still needed evidence and promised to return when the truth came out.

• Jiang Fan ordered the Dongshan Mine workers to wait while he, Fei Ruoyun, and Hu Qiuling went to an office.
• Jiang Fan told Hu Qiuling she was being questioned as part of the Military Supervision Department's investigation into Jiang Qinian's case.
• Hu Qiuling said Qinian had shouted about a traitor over the communicator before leaving for the front, but she could recall few details.
• Hu Qiuling identified Fang Pojun as one of Qinian's adjutants and guessed that he might have been the traitor.
• Jiang Fan cautioned that Fang Pojun's guilt required evidence and told Hu Qiuling to stay at Hei City Base, promising to come get her once the truth emerged.
• Hu Qiuling took Jiang Fan's words as an indirect sign that he knew she was his mother.

Jiang Fan agreed to visit Hu Qiuling’s parents in Peng City while keeping his investigation into the old case secret. After he left, Hu Qiuling questioned fellow victims about anything unusual around the incident, hinting that she wanted to uncover the truth.

• Hu Qiuling offered to question the relatives of Jiang Qinian’s loyal subordinates, and Jiang Fan authorized her to help with the investigation through Wu Kun.
• Hu Qiuling asked Jiang Fan to visit her parents at the Hu Family in Peng City, and he reluctantly agreed.
• Jiang Fan ordered Wu Kun to keep his and Fei Ruoyun’s visit secret and arrange communication privileges for Hu Qiuling.
• Wu Kun moved the surviving Dongshan Mine workers into a deserted dormitory at the Hei City Base, where they quickly cleaned it up.
• Hu Qiuling asked Dou Ruoxia and the other victims whether they had noticed anything unusual around the time of the Jiang Qinian Incident, then asked if they wanted to remain imprisoned for life.

Hu Qiuling gathered Dou Ruoxia and three other women to compare what they remembered about the case that had led to their husbands’ imprisonment. Their discussion produced no immediate leads, but Dou Ruoxia suddenly recalled that her husband had told her to take their child hiking up Zhuyu Peak just before military law-enforcement officers arrested him.

• Hu Qiuling told Dou Ruoxia and the others that the Military Supervision Department was investigating the old case, and they promised to keep the matter secret.
• Dou Ruoxia and the other women recounted their memories of the incident, including signs that a traitor had been in the unit and their husbands’ reactions afterward.
• Hu Qiuling and the women compared their accounts but found no useful leads, leaving Hu Qiuling disappointed.
• Dou Ruoxia nearly fell after standing, and Xiaoyu caught her before the others helped her sit down.
• Dou Ruoxia remembered that, just before his arrest, her husband had told her to take their child hiking up Zhuyu Peak, and she wondered whether his instruction had a hidden meaning.

Dou Ruoxia’s account of Zhuyu Peak and the blessing plaques gave Hu Qiuling a possible clue to the evidence Jiang Fan was seeking. Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun headed to Lushan Mountain to investigate, arriving at dusk unsure where to find the peak.

• Dou Ruoxia told Hu Qiuling that she and her husband had made their relationship official at Zhuyu Peak and returned each year to write wishes on blessing plaques.
• Hu Qiuling realized her husband had mentioned Zhuyu Peak at an unusual time and concluded that the blessing plaques might hold a message.
• Jiang Fan accepted Hu Qiuling’s call, heard the clue, and agreed with Fei Ruoyun to investigate Lushan Mountain despite the possibility that the plaques no longer existed.
• Jiang Fan praised Hu Qiuling for sharing useful information, and he and Fei Ruoyun postponed their investigation of Qu Wei to fly to Lushan Mountain.
• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun landed at Heaven’s Gate, but Jiang Fan could not find Zhuyu Peak and approached a young man and woman for help.

Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun searched Lushan Mountain for Zhuyu Peak, which younger visitors knew as Lover's Peak, and reached the summit after revealing their great speed and strength. A staff member told them old blessing plaques were stored in a side hall, giving them a place to search for the plaque from eighteen years earlier.

• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun asked a young couple where Zhuyu Peak was, and the couple identified it as Lover's Peak and warned them about climbing after dark.
• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun flew to Lover's Peak, where a stone tablet confirmed it was also called Zhuyu Peak.
• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun found a covered walkway filled with blessing plaques and asked a great hall staff member for help locating one from eighteen years earlier.
• The staff member explained that old plaques removed during cleanups were stored in the great hall's side hall, and Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun followed him there.

Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun searched Zhuyu Peak’s stored blessing plaques and found one left by Dou Ruoxia and Zhu Shijian. A staff member told them that the pair had also funded a Buddhist shrine for a hundred years, and Jiang Fan asked to see it.

• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun searched through the discarded blessing plaques in a small room at Zhuyu Peak.
• Fei Ruoyun found a plaque bearing Dou Ruoxia and Zhu Shijian’s names and a wish to reunite after Zhu Shijian laid down his armor.
• Jiang Fan took the plaque to return it to Dou Ruoxia, and the staff member inspected it and allowed him to keep it.
• The staff member told Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun that Dou Ruoxia and Zhu Shijian had made offerings to one Buddhist shrine for a hundred years.
• Jiang Fan asked the staff member to take them to see the shrine.

Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun retrieved the hundred-year Buddha statue worshiped by Dou Ruoxia and Zhu Shijian, paying a million Blue Star Coins for a replacement. They left the temple at night despite warnings, revealing that they could fly away from the cliff.

• Jiang Fan learned that the Buddha positions had been established around the time Dou Ruoxia and Zhu Shijian began their hundred-year worship period.
• Jiang Fan found their names beneath a statue of Master Huineng and asked to take it, offering a million Blue Star Coins for a replacement Buddha.
• The staff member agreed, and Jiang Fan removed the statue and arranged for another one to take its place.
• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun hurried out of the temple despite the staff member and other worshipers warning them about the dangerous mountain paths.
• The staff member watched Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun fly away from the cliff, then returned to the hall and told the astonished worshipers what he had seen.

Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun uncovered evidence that Fang Pojun had betrayed a military battle plan and that Fang Polu had concealed the truth to frame Jiang Qinian. They began targeting the Si Kong Family to force Fang Polu to expose himself, while Si Kongnan Tian suspected Si Kong Lingxiao of betraying the family and ordered his relatives seized.

• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun found sealed documents inside the Buddha statue and reconstructed how Fang Pojun was exposed as a traitor and Jiang Qinian was framed.
• Jiang Fan concluded the evidence could overturn Fang Pojun’s verdict but was not yet enough to convict Fang Polu, so he and Fei Ruoyun planned to provoke Fang Polu through a move against the Si Kong Family.
• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun arranged arrests that captured nearly all Si Kong Family members involved in stealing and transporting national secrets outside the family’s main residence.
• Si Kongnan Tian learned that Jiang Fan’s team had arrested another family member and suspected Si Kong Lingxiao of betraying them.
• Si Kongnan Tian ordered his subordinates to find and imprison Si Kong Lingxiao’s family, then wondered how Jiang Fan intended to bring down the Si Kong Family.

Jiang Fan confronted Si Kongnan Tian over the Si Kong Family’s military-secret leak and moved to arrest him. Si Kongnan Tian resisted, but Jiang Fan’s strength surprised him, and Jiang Fan began their fight with a Gravity Field.

• Jiang Fan accused the Si Kong Family of transporting and selling military secrets, while Si Kongnan Tian denied the charges and called them fabricated.
• Jiang Fan announced Si Kongnan Tian’s arrest, and Si Kongnan Tian dared him to try.
• Jiang Fan struck Si Kongnan Tian and sent him sliding backward, revealing that his strength had risen sharply since their last clash.
• Si Kongnan Tian refused to admit defeat, so Jiang Fan deployed a Gravity Field and attacked him again.

Jiang Fan fought Si Kongnan Tian, combining elemental attacks and Spatial Ability to pressure the Level 8 Peak expert. Si Kongnan Tian realized he had underestimated Jiang Fan and decided to end the fight with one strike.

• Jiang Fan and Si Kongnan Tian traded blows, and Jiang Fan recognized that his Gravity Field could restrain his opponent only briefly.
• Si Kongnan Tian summoned a black flood dragon, but Jiang Fan countered it with Gold, Wind, Fire, Earth, and Water Element powers, forcing Si Kongnan Tian onto the defensive.
• Si Kongnan Tian formed an expanding Energy Barrier and detonated it, scattering Jiang Fan's attacks.
• Jiang Fan used Spatial Ability to appear around Si Kongnan Tian and attack from multiple directions, nearly striking his vital points.
• Si Kongnan Tian admitted he had underestimated Jiang Fan and resolved to kill him with one decisive strike.

Jiang Fan struggled to overcome Si Kongnan Tian’s speed until Fei Ruoyun joined him and used her Time Field to slow Si Kongnan Tian. Jiang Fan then repeatedly struck the helpless opponent, leaving Si Kongnan Tian badly battered.

• Si Kongnan Tian repeatedly escaped Jiang Fan’s Spatial Flash attacks, then broke free of Jiang Fan’s Gravity Field and avoided a decisive punch.
• Jiang Fan asked Fei Ruoyun to help, and she joined the fight after admitting she had been watching in amazement at his rapid improvement.
• Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun agreed to attack Si Kongnan Tian together without giving him a chance to respond.
• Fei Ruoyun trapped Si Kongnan Tian in her Time Field, slowing his movements as Jiang Fan appeared before him and landed a punch.
• Jiang Fan continued striking Si Kongnan Tian, sending him flying repeatedly while recognizing the strength of Fei Ruoyun’s Time Field.

Jiang Fan defeated Si Kongnan Tian and tried to arrest him over the Si Kong Family’s suspected sale of Huaxia’s military secrets, but Xing Zhiyi arrived and ordered Si Kongnan Tian released. Xing then suspended Jiang Fan and ordered an investigation into his background as the son of a general accused of betraying the nation.

• Jiang Fan subdued Si Kongnan Tian, sealed his meridians, and ordered soldiers to take him into custody.
• Xing Zhiyi arrived with orders, leaving Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun wondering whether he was connected to the people behind the Si Kong Family.
• Xing ordered Si Kongnan Tian released until the investigation into his family was complete, and the soldiers freed him.
• Xing suspended Jiang Fan from all his positions and confined him to the Military Commission Compound pending an investigation.
• Xing said Jiang Fan was suspected of being Jiang Qinian’s son and ordered the military to examine his background and motives before proceeding with the Si Kong Family case.

Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun discussed how Fang Polu had protected the Si Kong Family and stripped them of their authority, leaving them unable to act against him. Jiang Fan believed that exposing the opening would cause the system to match Fang Polu with an opponent, and they waited for someone to approach.

• Xing Zhiyi accused Jiang Fan of concealing that he was Jiang Qinian’s son, ordered him to comply, and suspended Fei Ruoyun’s authority in the investigation.
• The military withdrew from the Si Kong Family, and Jiang Fan was held in an isolated room for three days without interrogation.
• Fei Ruoyun visited Jiang Fan and told him that the suspected Si Kong Family members had been released and that Fang Polu had made the decisions protecting them.
• Jiang Fan told Fei Ruoyun that although they had lost their ability to bring Fang Polu down, exposing him would lead the system to match him with an opponent.
• As Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun waited for that opponent to act, footsteps approached and someone knocked on the door.

Jiang Fan challenged Xing Zhiyi about his dismissal and learned that the Chief Inspector had suspended him and Fei Ruoyun to protect them from a larger power struggle surrounding the Si Kong Family and the military secrets leak. After Xing Zhiyi explained the situation, Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun agreed to hear him out, leaving them to decide what to do with the evidence they had found.

• Xing Zhiyi told Jiang Fan he was free to leave, and Jiang Fan confronted him about stopping their investigation and removing them from duty.
• Xing Zhiyi claimed he had acted to protect Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun, warning them to stop investigating the Si Kong Family.
• Jiang Fan used spiritual detection to confirm Xing Zhiyi was not lying, then revealed that he and Fei Ruoyun might have obtained crucial evidence.
• Xing Zhiyi offered to explain the matter's background, and Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun agreed to listen.
• Xing Zhiyi explained that the military secrets leak had divided the military's leadership and that Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun had been drawn into the power struggle after winning the Strongest General Star.

Jiang Fan told Xing Zhiyi how he and Fei Ruoyun had gathered evidence against the Si Kong Family and Fang Polu, and Xing Zhiyi agreed to let Jiang Fan personally arrest the family when the authorities closed in. Afterward, Fei Ruoyun offered to teach Jiang Fan Time Stasis if he taught her Spatial Flash and Gravity Field.

• Jiang Fan recounted how he and Fei Ruoyun had uncovered evidence tying Zhuang Botao, the Si Kong Family, Fang Pojun, and Fang Polu to the military leak and old crimes.
• Xing Zhiyi said the evidence was enough for the upper echelons to close the net and approved Jiang Fan's request to personally arrest the Si Kong Family and Si Kongnan Tian.
• Xing Zhiyi left, and Jiang Fan and Fei Ruoyun agreed to wait while the upper echelons acted against the reactionary forces.
• Jiang Fan praised Fei Ruoyun's Time Stasis, and she offered to teach it to him in exchange for learning his Spatial Flash and Gravity Field.

Jiang Fan taught Fei Ruoyun about energy and the Spatial Flash skill after helping her master a prototype of Time Stasis. They used the skill to travel to Mang Mountain, where Jiang Fan planned to teach her the Gravity Field.

• Fei Ruoyun guided Jiang Fan as he comprehended Time Stasis, and he expanded his Time Field to about one hundred feet while slowing time to seventy percent of normal.
• Fei Ruoyun praised Jiang Fan’s rapid progress, and he offered to teach her Spatial Flash and the Gravity Field.
• Jiang Fan explained his concept of energy, and Fei Ruoyun quickly understood it and learned the principles behind Spatial Flash.
• Jiang Fan proposed traveling to an area with Gravity Stones to practice the Gravity Field and test Fei Ruoyun’s new skill.
• Fei Ruoyun sensed Jiang Fan’s aura and used Spatial Flash to follow him dozens of kilometers to Mang Mountain, where Jiang Fan led her toward the Gravity Stones.

Jiang Fan taught Fei Ruoyun how to absorb gravity energy and control a Gravity Field, while she acknowledged the value of their exchange of skills. After improving his Time Stasis, Jiang Fan prepared to visit the Jiang Family before traveling to Peng City.

• Jiang Fan created a reverse-direction force field around the Gravity Stone and guided Fei Ruoyun in sensing and absorbing its gravity energy.
• Fei Ruoyun absorbed the energy from a Strange Stone and formed a Gravity Field, then practiced changing its direction under Jiang Fan's instruction.
• Fei Ruoyun said she would wait for Jiang Fan at the Kyoto Military Supervision Department before leaving.
• Jiang Fan expanded his Time Stasis domain to around thirty zhang and learned to slow time to half its normal speed.
• Jiang Fan decided to visit the Jiang Family to update Jiang Liye on military matters and learn about the Peng City Hu Family before traveling to Peng City.

Jiang Fan returned to the Jiang Family after the military released him and told Jiang Liye that the Si Kong Family would be destroyed within a month. He revealed that the case against the Si Kong Family was connected to Jiang Qinian’s treason accusation and left Jiang Liye asking whether he had met Jiang Qinian’s family and former subordinates’ relatives.

• Jiang Liye learned that his contacts had no information about Jiang Fan’s detention and worried that the military had punished him.
• Jiang Fan returned to the Jiang Family, told Jiang Liye he had been released, and said he had lost his military rank and position.
• Jiang Fan assured Jiang Liye that the Si Kong Family would be destroyed within a month, though he could not share the details.
• Jiang Fan explained that the Si Kong Family case implicated the old treason case against Jiang Qinian and described how Fang Pojun had been connected to the family.
• Jiang Fan said Jiang Qinian and the Jiang Family would be vindicated after the Si Kong Family was eradicated, and Jiang Liye asked whether he had seen Jiang Qinian’s relatives and former subordinates’ families.

Jiang Fan learned how Jiang Qinian and Hu Qiuling overcame opposition from both families to be together, and asked Jiang Liye about the Hu Family in Peng City. He planned to prepare to honor his promise to help them, but still knew little about their current circumstances.

• Jiang Fan told Jiang Liye that Hu Qiuling was mining at Dongshan Mine, where she faced harsh conditions and bullying, and said she would likely be cleared within a month.
• Jiang Fan explained the Great Rift at Dongshan Mine and its effect on Hu Qiuling and the other workers.
• Jiang Liye recounted how Jiang Qinian and Hu Qiuling fell in love despite opposition: Qinian's family objected, while the Hu Family feared offending the Duan Family, which had a marriage contract with Hu Qiuling.
• Jiang Liye explained that the Jiang Family had helped the Hu Family's business grow but later lost contact with them after Jiang Qinian's misfortune.
• Jiang Fan worried that he lacked information to prepare for the Hu Family, so Jiang Liye advised him to prepare as though they were a Noble Family.

Jiang Fan traveled to Peng City to visit his maternal relatives, the Hu Family, but found their old residence abandoned. A young man who claimed to know the Hu Family offered to take Jiang Fan to them, then drove him to Third Martial Arts University instead.

• Jiang Liye prepared gifts for Jiang Fan to bring to the Hu Family and arranged a private plane to Peng City.
• Jiang Fan reached the Hu Family's old residence and found it sealed, dilapidated, and deserted.
• A young man from the neighboring residence told Jiang Fan that the Hu Family had been driven out of Peng City after one of their relatives was branded a traitor.
• Jiang Fan followed the young man, who recognized him as Jiang Fan and learned that his mother was from the Hu Family.
• The young man drove Jiang Fan to Third Martial Arts University instead of the Hu Family's new residence.