Chapter Summaries

The Grand Secretariat assigned Su Fei to investigate the powerful Heavenly Dao Alliance in Cool Prefecture after Crown Prince Zhao Yan recommended him. Lei Chongxiao brought the decree to Su Fei, who began reading it, leaving his response undecided.

• Zhang Jing reported that the Heavenly Dao Alliance had absorbed martial factions, lost contact with Imperial Guard undercover agents, and threatened Cool Prefecture and Yong Prefecture.
• The Grand Secretaries debated ways to confront the alliance until Crown Prince Zhao Yan recommended sending Su Fei, citing his strength and investigative experience.
• Zhao Yan privately hoped the mission would weaken Su Fei, and the Grand Secretariat issued a decree ordering him to depart for Cool Prefecture.
• Lei Chongxiao read the decree, worried about its danger and the lack of rest Su Fei had been given, then went to consult him.
• Su Fei received the decree from Lei Chongxiao and began reading it.

Su Fei accepted a mission to investigate and dismantle the Cool Prefecture Heavenly Dao Alliance, then set out for Cool Prefecture with Zhang San and Li Si. After dealing with several bands of roadside thieves, the three reached Cool Prefecture City.

• Su Fei received a system mission to uncover the Heavenly Dao Alliance's strength, purpose, and controller and dismantle its threat, with Buddha's Palm and three hundred and thirty years of cultivation as rewards.
• Su Fei agreed to the mission, asked to travel with Zhang San and Li Si, and planned to leave within two days.
• Lei Chongxiao gave Su Fei travel documents and three fine horses, and Su Fei and his companions departed for Cool Prefecture.
• Zhang San and Li Si killed or wounded groups of bandits who tried to rob the travelers along the road while Su Fei watched from horseback.
• After seven or eight days of hard riding, Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si arrived beneath the walls of Cool Prefecture City.

Su Fei arrived in Cool Prefecture, learned that the Heavenly Dao Alliance was gaining power across the region, and decided to attend its Armor Appreciation Assembly to investigate. Three days later, he reached Clear Breeze Ridge with Zhang San and Li Si as martial artists gathered for the event.

• Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si entered Cool Prefecture City, ate local specialties, and proceeded to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office.
• Zhang Jing told Su Fei that the Heavenly Dao Alliance had taken root in Cool Prefecture and killed agents sent to infiltrate it.
• Zhang Jing explained that the alliance would hold an Armor Appreciation Assembly at Clear Breeze Ridge in three days, offering a supposedly extraordinary suit of armor to the strongest participant.
• Su Fei decided to attend the assembly and use it to probe the Heavenly Dao Alliance's strength.
• Three days later, Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si rode to Clear Breeze Ridge, where martial artists from Cool Prefecture and Yong Prefecture had gathered.

Su Fei and his companions paid to attend the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s Armor Appreciation Assembly, where they assessed the alliance’s strength and waited for the armor to be revealed. The assembly began when Chen Liefeng arrived and introduced himself to the gathered martial artists.

• Su Fei, Zhang San, and Li Si were charged fifteen taels of silver to enter Clear Breeze Ridge, and Su Fei stopped Zhang San from arguing with the gate guards.
• Su Fei used the God-tier Insight Technique to assess the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s guards as they climbed to the summit.
• Su Fei and his companions joined more than a thousand martial artists in the summit square, where Su Fei sensed a powerful Martial Saint aura coming from a tent.
• Chen Liefeng emerged from the tent with four martial artists carrying a chained red sandalwood box, then released his seventh-level Martial Saint aura and began addressing the crowd.

Chen Liefeng displayed the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s treasure armor and demonstrated its resistance to fire, water, blades, and spears, while claiming it could weaken true essence attacks. He then announced that only alliance members could earn it through merit, angering the martial artists who had expected a contest of strength.

• Chen Liefeng had the Heavenly Dao Alliance martial artists reveal the pale blue inner armor, and the crowd marveled at its value.
• The alliance tested the armor with fire and water, showing that it resisted flames and stayed dry while floating.
• The alliance martial artists struck and stabbed the armor with weapons, which failed to damage or pierce it.
• Chen Liefeng claimed the armor could weaken true essence attacks, and Su Fei considered trying to obtain it while Li Si questioned whether that ability was genuine.
• Chen Liefeng announced that martial artists had to join the Heavenly Dao Alliance and earn merit to claim the armor, prompting the crowd to accuse the alliance of changing its rules and deceiving them.

Chen Liefeng crushed Zhou Xingtian for challenging the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s armor exchange rules, frightening the gathered martial artists into agreeing to join. Su Fei then defied Chen and refused to give his name, prompting Chen to attack him with the Full Moon Sword Art.

• Zhou Xingtian accused the Heavenly Dao Alliance of using the armor gathering to recruit people, and Chen Liefeng attacked him with the Full Moon Sword Art, grievously injuring him.
• Chen Liefeng challenged the crowd to speak up, and the frightened martial artists began asking to join the Heavenly Dao Alliance so they could earn merits toward the treasured armor.
• Su Fei watched Chen Liefeng’s intimidation succeed and then asked what would happen if he wanted the treasured armor without joining the alliance.
• Chen Liefeng demanded Su Fei’s name, but Su Fei mocked the Heavenly Dao Alliance and refused to identify himself.
• Furious, Chen Liefeng attacked Su Fei with an even larger Full Moon Sword Art as onlookers feared the young man would be crushed.

Su Fei defeated Chen Liefeng after breaking his Full Moon Sword Art and overpowering his strongest sword technique. He revealed himself as Great Xuan’s Marquis of Martial Peace and an Imperial Guard officer, then claimed the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s treasured armor under Chen’s own rule that the strong make the rules.

• Chen Liefeng attacked Su Fei with the Full Moon Sword Art, but Su Fei shattered it with his Perfection realm Threefold Origin-Returning Energy.
• Chen Liefeng dismissed the defeat as luck and unleashed the Azure Light Sun-Blazing Sword Art.
• Su Fei drew Crimson Firmament and used the Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Art to cleave through Chen Liefeng’s attack and wound him severely.
• Chen Liefeng asked Su Fei who he was, and Su Fei identified himself as Great Xuan’s Marquis of Martial Peace and an Imperial Guard Thousand Households Officer.
• Su Fei declared that he would take the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s treasured armor because he was stronger than Chen Liefeng.

Su Fei seized the Frost Scale Armor and arrested Chen Liefeng, the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s sixth leader, then prepared for the alliance’s response at the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office. News of the confrontation reached the alliance headquarters, where a messenger interrupted fifth leader Yue Jinghao’s meal with an urgent warning.

• Su Fei took the Frost Scale Armor despite Chen Liefeng’s threat that the alliance’s other leaders would retaliate.
• Su Fei ordered Zhang San and Li Si to arrest Chen Liefeng, and Zhang San knocked him unconscious when he resisted.
• Su Fei returned to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office with Chen Liefeng and the armor, then told Zhang Jing to await the alliance’s attempt to reclaim its leader.
• News of Su Fei’s victory spread through Cool Prefecture and Yong Prefecture, causing prospective alliance recruits to wait and see how the alliance would respond.
• At the Heavenly Dao Alliance headquarters, messenger alerted fifth leader Yue Jinghao to a disaster as he ate and drank in the Hall of Gathered Righteousness.

After Su Fei arrested Chen Liefeng and seized the Frost Scale Armor, Heavenly Dao Alliance leader Yue Jinghao led five hundred elites to surround the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office. Su Fei went out to confront him, and Yue mocked Su Fei’s slender build.

• A messenger told Yue Jinghao that Su Fei had arrested Chen Liefeng and taken the Frost Scale Armor to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office.
• Yue Jinghao assembled five hundred elites and rode toward the Thousand Households Office, threatening to force Su Fei to answer for the arrest.
• Su Fei learned that Yue Jinghao was approaching and calmly waited for him, ordering Zhang Jing to secure the office and keep Chen Liefeng from escaping.
• Yue Jinghao’s forces surrounded the Thousand Households Office and demanded that Chen Liefeng be handed over.
• Su Fei walked out with Zhang San and Li Si to meet Yue Jinghao, who identified Su Fei and mocked his slender frame.

Yue Jinghao led five hundred Heavenly Dao Alliance warriors to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office and demanded Chen Liefeng and the Frost Scale Armor from Su Fei. Su Fei revealed his eighth-level Martial Saint aura and stopped Yue Jinghao’s hammer attack with his bare hands, leaving the alliance leader stunned.

• Yue Jinghao mocked Su Fei and demanded Chen Liefeng, the Frost Scale Armor, and an apology, threatening to destroy the Thousand Households Office.
• Su Fei stopped Zhang San and Li Si from intervening, then released his martial saint realm eighth level aura and warned that Yue Jinghao’s men were no match for him.
• Yue Jinghao, a martial saint realm seventh level peak body-refining warrior, attacked Su Fei with his porcelain hammers.
• Su Fei activated Dragon Roar Iron Cloth Shirt and caught both hammers with his palms, stopping Yue Jinghao’s strike and shocking him.

Su Fei defeated Yue Jinghao and ordered the Imperial Guard to subdue the Heavenly Dao Alliance members surrounding the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office. When they resisted, Su Fei unleashed Threefold Origin-Returning Energy and killed at least two hundred of them, leaving the battle raging amid heavy casualties.

• Su Fei repelled Yue Jinghao’s hammer attack with his bare palms, damaged his hammers, and forced him to retreat injured.
• Su Fei demanded that Yue Jinghao surrender or die, then ordered Zhang San, Li Si, and the Imperial Guard to take down the Heavenly Dao Alliance and kill anyone who resisted.
• Zhang Jing led several hundred Imperial Guard members into battle, and they clashed with the roughly five hundred resisting Heavenly Dao Alliance warriors.
• Su Fei fired Threefold Origin-Returning Energy into the fighting, killing dozens in one blast and at least two hundred Alliance members within a quarter of an hour.

Su Fei defeated the Heavenly Dao Alliance forces, accepted Yue Jinghao’s surrender, and interrogated him at the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office. Yue Jinghao described his background and how he had joined the alliance, leaving Su Fei to continue questioning him.

• Yue Jinghao surrendered to Su Fei, and the remaining Heavenly Dao Alliance members laid down their weapons.
• Zhang Jing arrested and bound the surrendered members, while Su Fei took Yue Jinghao to the Thousand Households Office for questioning.
• Yue Jinghao asked for food before answering, and Su Fei ordered the Imperial Guards to bring him a meal.
• After eating, Yue Jinghao explained that he was a Yong Prefecture native who had trained as a body-refining martial artist and reached the seventh-level peak of the Martial Saint Realm.
• Yue Jinghao said the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s First Alliance Leader had recruited him a year earlier by promising him food, weapons, and a position as Fifth Alliance Leader.

Su Fei learned more about the Heavenly Dao Alliance's divided leadership and kept Yue Jinghao and Chen Liefeng imprisoned, weakening the Alliance's standing while its core leaders were away. When He Tianxiong and the other leaders returned, they discovered the captures and began discussing how to deal with Su Fei.

• Yue Jinghao told Su Fei that Chen Liefeng was the Alliance's sixth leader and that the first four leaders kept their plans from him and Yue Jinghao.
• Su Fei ordered the Imperial Guards to imprison Yue Jinghao without mistreating him, and news of the captures spread across Cool Prefecture and Yong Prefecture.
• Su Fei had Zhang Jing interrogate captured disciples and watch the Alliance's headquarters while questioning Yue Jinghao and keeping the silent Chen Liefeng in a separate cell.
• Seven or eight days later, He Tianxiong returned to Fallen Soul Valley with Zhao Yunlan, Deng Bajue, and Feng Leiting.
• He Tianxiong raged over Su Fei's capture of Yue Jinghao and Chen Liefeng, while Feng Leiting urged caution because Su Fei had imperial backing.
• Zhao Yunlan told He Tianxiong that the Alliance could deal with Su Fei, since its leaders were powerful enough to challenge him.

The Heavenly Dao Alliance arranged for small gangs to spread crime and disorder across Cool Prefecture, hoping to overwhelm Su Fei and force him out. As chaos mounted, the government sought Imperial Guard help, and Zhang Jing exhausted himself leading the response.

• Zhao Yunlan proposed using subordinate gangs to create unrest in Cool Prefecture and stir public anger against Su Fei, and He Tianxiong approved the plan.
• The gangs launched street fights, burglaries, and attacks on merchants, disrupting trade and driving up prices across Cool Prefecture City.
• Overwhelmed by the growing cases, the Cool Prefecture government asked the Thousand Households Office for help.
• Zhang Jing mobilized nearly all the Imperial Guards to patrol, arrest troublemakers, investigate thefts, and examine attacks outside the city.
• After several days of leading the response, Zhang Jing was left deeply exhausted and bloodshot-eyed.

Su Fei turned the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s unrest in Cool Prefecture into an opportunity to expose and arrest its peripheral agents, restoring order within three days. He reported the evidence to the imperial court and ordered defenses strengthened as the Alliance reacted angrily in Fallen Soul Valley.

• Su Fei told Zhang Jing to interrogate captured troublemakers, ambush gang hideouts, and use Zhang San and Li Si as bait to catch the robbers.
• Imperial Guard interrogations linked the gangs to the Heavenly Dao Alliance and uncovered a black command token marked with the character for “heaven.”
• The Imperial Guard raided five gang hideouts, arrested more than three hundred people, and captured the robbers who attacked Zhang San and Li Si’s disguised caravan.
• The arrests exposed the Alliance’s plans to disrupt trade, and Cool Prefecture returned to peace as shops reopened and prices fell.
• Su Fei ordered Zhang Jing to send the interrogation results and token to the imperial court and strengthen defenses while monitoring the Alliance in Fallen Soul Valley.
• He Tianxiong erupted in anger at the Heavenly Dao Alliance headquarters and demanded to know what had happened.

The Heavenly Dao Alliance leaders planned to rescue their captured Fifth and Sixth Brothers from the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office. Deng Bajue infiltrated the office, but Su Fei detected him as he raced toward the cells.

• He Tianxiong rebuked Zhao Yunlan after Su Fei destroyed more than three hundred of the Alliance's outer strongholds.
• Zhao Yunlan proposed rescuing the captured Fifth and Sixth Brothers, and Deng Bajue agreed to infiltrate the Thousand Households Office.
• Zhao Yunlan arranged disturbances outside the city and told Deng Bajue where the cells were located.
• Deng Bajue slipped into the office at night and headed for the rear courtyard cells.
• Su Fei sensed Deng Bajue stepping on a roof tile, confronted him, and watched him flee toward the cells.

Su Fei pursued Deng Bajue out of the Thousand Households Office and confronted him in a secluded alley. He defeated Deng Bajue’s signature technique with a single palm strike, leaving the Heavenly Dao Alliance fighter gravely injured and terrified.

• Deng Bajue tried to flee the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office, but Su Fei kept pace and followed him into a deserted alley.
• Deng Bajue revealed he was from the Heavenly Dao Alliance and intended to capture Su Fei while seeking to rescue Yue Jinghao and Chen Liefeng.
• Deng Bajue unleashed his Golden-Winged Eagle Claw Technique against Su Fei.
• Su Fei countered with Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms: Dragon Appears in the Field and shattered Deng Bajue’s eagle attack.
• Su Fei’s palm strike destroyed Deng Bajue’s arms and left him badly injured, while Su Fei calmly told him he lacked the ability to rescue anyone.

Su Fei tortured Deng Bajue until he revealed that the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s leaders served the Chu Kingdom and that its chief was the imperial family member Helian Haotong. Deng Bajue admitted he did not know the alliance’s true purpose, leaving Su Fei without the key answer.

• Su Fei burned Deng Bajue’s wounds with Flame Blade energy until Deng Bajue agreed to talk.
• Deng Bajue revealed he was a former Chu Kingdom bandit whom Helian Haotong recruited two years earlier to join the Heavenly Dao Alliance.
• Deng Bajue identified Helian Haotong as a Chu Kingdom imperial family member and gave his real name.
• Deng Bajue said Feng Leiting had been Great Chu’s North-Subduing General and trained the alliance’s martial artists, while Zhao Yunlan handled its affairs and intelligence.
• When Su Fei demanded the alliance’s true purpose, Deng Bajue said he did not know and awkwardly described how the other leaders left him alone at brothels.

Su Fei captured Deng Bajue, the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s third alliance leader, and learned that the alliance’s leaders were tied to the Chu Kingdom. He ordered Zhang Jing to strengthen security, gather the office’s core personnel, and urgently report the alliance’s leadership and plans to the imperial court.

• Deng Bajue told Su Fei that Helian Haotong had founded the Heavenly Dao Alliance to destabilize Great Xuan’s frontier, but he did not know its deeper plans.
• Su Fei had two Imperial Guards take Deng Bajue to the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office and decided he needed to act against the alliance.
• Su Fei woke Zhang Jing and revealed that he had captured Deng Bajue while the third alliance leader tried to rescue Yue Jinghao and Chen Liefeng.
• Su Fei ordered Zhang Jing to gather the office’s core personnel the next day and strengthen the guards around Deng Bajue, Yue Jinghao, and Chen Liefeng.
• Su Fei told Zhang Jing that Helian Haotong and the alliance’s core leadership came from the Chu Kingdom, then ordered him to send an urgent report to the imperial court.

Su Fei ordered the Cool Prefecture Thousand Households Office to launch a campaign against the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s peripheral forces. After Zhang Jing revealed Su Fei’s victories over three alliance leaders, the officers pledged their support and prepared to set out.

• Su Fei ordered Zhang Jing and five Hundred Households Officers to investigate and arrest the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s affiliated gangs and sects.
• Hundred Households Officer Wang warned that the office was outnumbered and urged Su Fei to wait for reinforcements from the imperial capital.
• Zhang Jing told the officers that Su Fei had captured Chen Liefeng and Yue Jinghao and crippled Deng Bajue, who had infiltrated the office.
• The officers apologized and agreed to follow Su Fei’s orders after learning of his strength.
• Su Fei assigned Zhang Jing to divide the office into five teams and sent Zhang San and Li Si with elite forces as mobile support.
• The officers, Zhang San, and Li Si left to gather their men and prepare to depart within half an hour.