Chapter Summaries

Yang Yinglong confessed that a wealthy merchant had bribed and coerced him into sabotaging the Hai Family fire investigation and framing a shopkeeper. After Su Fei cured the poison the merchant had given him, Yang Yinglong revealed where the stolen silk shop had become a pawnshop.

• Yang Yinglong confessed that the wealthy merchant had threatened to expose his bribery and induced him to help cover up the Hai Family fire as an accident.
• Yang Yinglong said he had swallowed a supposed Longevity Pill, but Su Fei identified it as a slow-acting poison and forced him to expel the toxic blood.
• Yang Yinglong begged Su Fei for help, and Su Fei used Nine Yang True Qi to remove the poison from his body.
• Yang Yinglong revealed that he had framed Wang Laosan, extended his prison sentence, and forced him to surrender his silk shop to the wealthy merchant.
• Yang Yinglong told Su Fei that the shop had become Prosperous Treasure Pawnshop on Drum Tower West Street.

Su Fei investigated the Prosperous Treasure Pawnshop and discovered that its men were connected to the Hai Family fire. After confronting five mortal transformation realm martial artists, he demanded to know where Liu Niang was and which faction they served, but they dismissed him as an impostor and prepared to attack.

• Su Fei had Yang Yinglong arrested, then followed his lead to the Prosperous Treasure Pawnshop on Drum Tower Street.
• Su Fei visited the pawnshop and grew suspicious of its shopkeeper, whose martial training and careless business manner did not fit an ordinary pawnbroker.
• After nightfall, Su Fei slipped into the rear courtyard and overheard five martial artists boast that they had burned down the Hai Family and received merit points from their pavilion.
• Su Fei smashed open the side-room door and demanded that the five men explain their connection to the fire, reveal Liu Niang's whereabouts, and name their faction.
• The men doubted Su Fei was really an Imperial Guard commander, mocked him, and began preparing to fight.

Su Fei killed four attackers at the Prosperous Treasure Pawnshop and learned that the Heavenly Origin Pavilion, an organization linked to the former Great Origin Imperial Dynasty, planned to assassinate Deputy Prefect Gao Feng. He left one surviving conspirator for interrogation and promised to protect Gao Feng as the prefecture office prepared for the attack.

• Su Fei used Flame Blade energy to kill four men at the pawnshop, then forced the surviving pockmarked man to reveal the Heavenly Origin Pavilion's involvement in the Hai Family arson and Prefect Fang's murder.
• The pockmarked man told Su Fei that the pavilion planned to kill Gao Feng at the prefecture office three nights later.
• Su Fei crippled the survivor and returned to the prefecture office to report what he had learned to Gao Feng.
• Gao Feng panicked upon hearing he was the pavilion's next target, and Su Fei assured him he would keep him safe.
• Gao Feng sent the head constable and other men to bring the surviving conspirator to the Heavenly Prison for interrogation.

Gao Feng recruited three martial experts to help defend the prefectural offices against the Heavenly Origin Pavilion, including the powerful Jiang Haitao. At a banquet, Jiang Haitao took offense at Su Fei’s indifference and challenged him by offering to give him pointers.

• Gao Feng spent two days recruiting martial experts to support Su Fei in defending the prefectural offices.
• Xiong Tianren and Zhang Xing arrived, followed by Jiang Haitao, a second-level Grandmaster Realm expert.
• Gao Feng hosted a banquet where he and the martial artists praised Jiang Haitao’s strength and reputation.
• Su Fei stayed apart from the toasts, prompting Jiang Haitao to confront him and question his cultivation.

Su Fei watched Jiang Haitao and the others underestimate the Heavenly Origin Pavilion and arrange defenses for an assassination attempt. When Yuan Jiu led more than a dozen powerful martial artists into the government office, Jiang Haitao realized their strength far exceeded his own, and the defenders were overwhelmed by Yuan Jiu’s aura.

• Gao Feng praised Su Fei’s record, but Jiang Haitao, Xiong Tianren, and Zhang Xing dismissed his martial ability and left him out of their defense plans.
• Jiang Haitao assigned himself to guard the main entrance, placed Xiong Tianren and Zhang Xing at the side walls, and kept Su Fei and Gao Feng in the front courtyard beside him.
• Just after midnight, black-clad attackers shattered the government office’s entrance and entered under the leadership of the yellow-haired Yuan Jiu.
• Jiang Haitao sensed that the attackers were all at least in the mortal transformation realm and that Yuan Jiu had reached the grandmaster realm sixth layer, so he called the other defenders to reinforce the entrance.
• Yuan Jiu identified Jiang Haitao, Xiong Tianren, and Zhang Xing by their cultivation levels, then unleashed his aura and left the two hall masters, the constables, and the other defenders struggling to move.

Yuan Jiu revealed the Heavenly Origin Pavilion’s plan to seize Heaven-Answering Prefecture and defeated Gao Feng’s three martial artist allies with ease. Su Fei remained seated with his tea as Yuan Jiu turned his attention to Gao Feng and began reflecting on his own rise within the pavilion.

• Yuan Jiu declared that the Heavenly Origin Pavilion planned to occupy Heaven-Answering Prefecture and claimed it had a Martial Saint patriarch.
• Yuan Jiu charged Jiang Haitao, broke his spear, and knocked him down with a kick.
• Yuan Jiu struck Xiong Tianren and Zhang Xing aside, leaving all three of Gao Feng’s invited martial artists defeated.
• Su Fei calmly watched the fight from his stone stool while Gao Feng grabbed his sleeve and pleaded for help.
• Yuan Jiu identified Gao Feng and took satisfaction in controlling the scene before recalling how the Heavenly Origin Pavilion had raised him and praised his Martial Saint potential.

Su Fei faced Yuan Jiu’s attack without leaving his seat and revealed overwhelming strength. After killing Yuan Jiu, he left the courtyard’s survivors stunned and regretful.

• Yuan Jiu grew angry when Su Fei called him a blondie and unleashed a massive earth-yellow fist at him.
• Su Fei sliced Yuan Jiu’s attack apart with a crimson blade aura, and the shock wave injured Jiang Haitao, Xiong Tianren, and Zhang Xing.
• Yuan Jiu panicked and raised a thick true essence barrier, but Su Fei’s second blade aura shattered it and split Yuan Jiu in two.
• Su Fei continued drinking tea as everyone stared at him, while Jiang Haitao, Xiong Tianren, and Zhang Xing regretted having looked down on him.

Su Fei stopped five Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists from escaping, subdued the remaining captives, and ordered them taken to the Heavenly Prison for interrogation about the pavilion and Liu Niang. He left Gao Feng to handle the arrests and continued drinking tea as the injured experts thanked him.

• Five Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists tried to flee, but Su Fei trapped them with the Dragon Catching Skill and killed them with Shock a Hundred Miles.
• The surviving Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists knelt, and Su Fei sealed their true essence with the Finger Flicking Divine Ability.
• Su Fei ordered Gao Feng to shackle the captives, take them to the Heavenly Prison, and interrogate them about the pavilion's headquarters and Liu Niang; he also requested physicians for the injured experts.
• Gao Feng ordered the constables to carry out Su Fei's instructions, and they escorted the captives away.
• Jiang Haitao, Xiong Tianren, and Zhang Xing thanked Su Fei and offered him their support, while Su Fei returned to the stone table and resumed drinking tea.

After the rebels were taken to the Heavenly Prison, Gao Feng invited Su Fei to relax aboard the Moon-Washing Pleasure Boat on the Qinhuai River. Su Fei watched Shui Ling'er dance, and the madam approached him to ask what he thought of her performance.

• Gao Feng confirmed that the captured rebels had been placed under strict guard in the Heavenly Prison and invited Su Fei to the Qinhuai River for entertainment.
• Su Fei agreed, while a watcher on a rooftop spotted him and Gao Feng and compared Gao Feng with a portrait before leaving.
• Gao Feng brought Su Fei to the Moon-Washing Pleasure Boat, where the madam welcomed them and arranged a performance.
• Shui Ling'er and five other dancers performed to pipa music as Su Fei and Gao Feng drank Daughter's Red.
• The madam approached Su Fei after the performance and asked whether he was satisfied with Shui Ling'er's dance.

Gao Feng paid for Su Fei to meet Shui Ling'er and went to see Hong Mei, while Su Fei discovered Shui Ling'er had drugged her tea and pretended to be affected. Shui Ling'er accidentally revealed that she knew the Heavenly Origin Pavilion had planned to assassinate Gao Feng, leaving her exposed to Su Fei.

• Gao Feng paid the madam a thousand taels for Su Fei to meet Shui Ling'er and arranged to visit Hong Mei himself.
• An attendant escorted Su Fei to Moon Spirit Pavilion, where Shui Ling'er welcomed him with tea.
• Su Fei detected a knockout drug in the tea, neutralized it with his Nine Yang Divine Art, and pretended to feel dizzy.
• Shui Ling'er used her beguilement technique and questioned Su Fei about his family and the events at the prefecture office.
• Su Fei's Muscle Tendon Changing Scripture resisted the technique, and he falsely claimed that no assassination attempt had occurred.
• Shui Ling'er revealed that the Heavenly Origin Pavilion had planned to kill Gao Feng, then realized she had let the secret slip.

Su Fei exposed Yue Ling'er as a Joyous Union Sect disciple who had tested him after the Heavenly Origin Pavilion's assassination attempt on Gao Feng failed. After forcing her to confess, he learned that the two groups planned a rebellion in Heaven-Answering Prefecture, but Yue Ling'er did not know the Pavilion's headquarters.

• Su Fei questioned Yue Ling'er, and she revealed under his influence that she belonged to the Joyous Union Sect.
• Yue Ling'er tried to challenge Su Fei, but he sealed her acupoints and used Flame Blade qi to break her resistance.
• Yue Ling'er confessed that she had tested Su Fei because she was curious about the failed assassination attempt on Gao Feng.
• Yue Ling'er revealed that the Joyous Union Sect had partnered with the Heavenly Origin Pavilion, whose Saintess Liu Niang was stationed with them.
• Yue Ling'er said the Heavenly Origin Pavilion planned to seize Heaven-Answering Prefecture with support from the Great Origin Dynasty's hidden network, but only Liu Niang knew its headquarters.
• Su Fei considered keeping Yue Ling'er alive so he could learn more about the Joyous Union Sect.

Su Fei made Yue Ling'er serve as his maid by promising to help her seize the Joyous Union Sect Saintess position and keeping her power suppressed. The next morning, he took Yue Ling'er and Gao Feng to the Heavenly Prison to interrogate captured Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists.

• Su Fei persuaded Yue Ling'er to become his maid and warned her not to scheme against him.
• Yue Ling'er served Su Fei breakfast, astonishing Gao Feng, who praised Su Fei's ability to win women over.
• Su Fei told Gao Feng to take him to the Heavenly Prison to question the captured Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists.
• Gao Feng led Su Fei and Yue Ling'er to the prison, where they found the captives already covered in torture wounds.
• Gao Feng asked the warden whether the prisoners had confessed.

Su Fei forced Old Seven to reveal Heavenly Origin Pavilion’s headquarters and learned that Liu Niang and a newly advanced Martial Saint were there. He sent an urgent warning to Lei Chongxiao, who prepared to rush to Heaven-Obeying Prefecture to suppress the threat.

• Su Fei questioned Old Seven, who confessed that Heavenly Origin Pavilion’s headquarters lay in a remote valley five hundred li southeast of Heaven-Obeying Prefecture and that Liu Niang was there.
• Old Seven told Su Fei that the pavilion’s Martial Saint ancestor had broken through a few years earlier and remained in secluded cultivation.
• Su Fei ordered Old Seven to send a deceptive message to the pavilion and instructed Gao Feng to send a sealed report to Lei Chongxiao while keeping the prisoners under guard.
• Gao Feng left to arrange the message and dispatch the report, while Su Fei waited for reinforcements and worried that the Martial Saint might attack before they arrived.
• Lei Chongxiao read Su Fei’s report, recognized the threat from Heavenly Origin Pavilion, and decided to hurry to Heaven-Obeying Prefecture to suppress it.

After learning from Su Fei’s secret letter that Heaven-Answering Prefecture faced a threat from the Heavenly Origin Pavilion and its martial saint patriarch, Lei Chongxiao secured Elder Mo’s support and ordered a covert rescue force to assemble. The Imperial Guards set out in disguise, with five days to reach Ten-Li Slope and join Su Fei.

• Lei Chongxiao summoned Thousand Households Commanders Ouyang and Zeng to wait while he rode to the Attendant Hall for help.
• Lei Chongxiao returned with Elder Mo, and Ouyang and Zeng read Su Fei’s letter about the dangerous case in Heaven-Answering Prefecture.
• Lei Chongxiao ordered Ouyang and Zeng to lead more than a hundred xiantian-realm Imperial Guards toward Ten-Li Slope in civilian clothes, while other commanders stayed behind to guard the department.
• Elder Mo warned the group to avoid detection by Heavenly Origin Pavilion spies and agreed to accompany them, offering to act if needed.
• Ouyang and Zeng sent the Imperial Guards out in disguise with orders to reach the assembly point within five days.

Su Fei waited anxiously for reinforcements before Lei Chongxiao arrived at the Shuntian Prefectural Office with a large force and Elder Mo, a Martial Saint. After planning an attack on the Heavenly Origin Pavilion, the group set out for its headquarters before dawn.

• Su Fei worried that the Heavenly Origin Pavilion might discover his deception before Imperial Guard reinforcements arrived.
• Lei Chongxiao brought more than a hundred Pacification Office fighters and Elder Mo to the Shuntian Prefectural Office.
• Elder Mo recognized Su Fei's exceptional talent and predicted he would reach the Martial Saint realm before Lei Chongxiao.
• Su Fei described the Heavenly Origin Pavilion's hidden headquarters and its Martial Saint ancestor to the gathered commanders.
• Lei Chongxiao finalized a plan with Elder Mo waiting to confront the Pavilion's Martial Saint, then ordered the force to depart.
• Su Fei arranged more than a hundred relay horses, and the force rode out toward the Heavenly Origin Pavilion.

Su Fei and Lei Chongxiao led over a hundred Imperial Guards to attack the Heavenly Origin Pavilion’s hidden valley headquarters, using a surprise assault to collapse or burn several cave hideouts. The guards overwhelmed the fleeing martial artists, and Su Fei killed a Grandmaster Realm Second Layer defender, while the valley’s remaining enemies and Martial Saint ancestor still posed a threat.

• Lei Chongxiao scouted the valley and found Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists concealed in natural caves across its low mountains.
• Lei Chongxiao, Thousand Households Commander Ouyang, Thousand Households Commander Zeng, and Su Fei struck the caves, collapsing or setting several ablaze and killing the occupants.
• Lei Chongxiao ordered the Imperial Guards to charge and surround the survivors, while Ouyang and Zeng watched the other mountains for further threats.
• Over a hundred Imperial Guards routed the frightened Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists and killed dozens in the fighting.
• A black-robed Grandmaster Realm Second Layer martial artist attacked the Imperial Guards, but Su Fei beheaded him with a blade of crimson energy.

Su Fei offered to take on the Heavenly Origin Pavilion’s five Grandmasters and hundreds of warriors, then immobilized the Grandmasters with his Dragon Catching Skill and killed all five with one saber slash. The remaining Heavenly Origin Pavilion warriors and the Imperial Guard were left stunned by his strength.

• The Heavenly Origin Pavilion gathered hundreds of warriors and five Grandmasters to confront the Imperial Guard in the valley.
• Lei Chongxiao called on the rebels to surrender, but Yuan Liu refused and ordered his warriors to fight.
• Su Fei volunteered to face the five Grandmasters and the other Heavenly Origin Pavilion warriors by himself.
• Yuan Liu mistook Su Fei for an envoy sent to negotiate, but Su Fei used his Dragon Catching Skill to immobilize the five Grandmasters.
• Su Fei drew his Spring Embroidered Saber and killed all five Grandmasters with a single God of Slaughter's Blade Slash.

Su Fei slaughtered the Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists until Yuan Tianzu emerged from his underground chamber and confronted him. Elder Mo blocked Yuan Tianzu’s attack and took him into the sky to fight, while Liu Niang prepared to attack the Imperial Guard’s Grandmasters.

• Su Fei killed five Grandmasters and continued wiping out the Heavenly Origin Pavilion fighters with the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.
• Yuan Tianzu burst from a hidden stone chamber with Liu Niang and attacked Su Fei with a giant palm of black true essence.
• Elder Mo intercepted Yuan Tianzu’s attack and urged him to surrender, but Yuan Tianzu refused and declared his intention to restore the Great Origin Dynasty.
• Yuan Tianzu sent Liu Niang to kill the Imperial Guard’s Grandmasters, then flew into the sky to battle Elder Mo.
• Liu Niang targeted Lei Chongxiao, while Su Fei continued pursuing the remaining Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists.

Su Fei rescued Lei Chongxiao, Ouyang, and Zeng from Liu Niang, the Joyous Union Sect Saintess, and proved resistant to her beguilement technique. He shattered her strongest sword art but stopped his attack before it could kill her, leaving Liu Niang bewildered.

• Liu Niang overwhelmed Lei Chongxiao, Ouyang, and Zeng with her twin swords and beguilement technique, wounding Ouyang and knocking Zeng aside.
• Ouyang called for help, and Su Fei abandoned the routed Heavenly Origin Pavilion martial artists to return to the battlefield.
• Su Fei intercepted Liu Niang’s attack on Lei Chongxiao and dispelled her beguilement technique with the Muscle Tendon Changing Scripture true essence.
• Su Fei drew the Spring Embroidered Saber and told Lei Chongxiao and the others to tend their injuries while he faced Liu Niang.
• Liu Niang unleashed Azure Firmament Break, but Su Fei’s Flame Blade aura melted her Sword Qi and surged toward her.
• Su Fei dispersed his blade aura just before it struck Liu Niang, and she asked why he had spared her.

Su Fei forced Liu Niang to confess that she had infiltrated Fang Wenhan’s household, killed him after he refused to aid the rebellion, and helped the Heavenly Origin Pavilion silence his guards. As the Imperial Guards secured Liu Niang, the defeated Yuan Tianzu used the Great Blood Escape Art to flee.

• Su Fei subdued Liu Niang and demanded the truth about Fang Wenhan’s death.
• Liu Niang admitted that she killed Fang Wenhan after he rejected the Heavenly Origin Pavilion’s rebellion and tried to report her, then arranged for his guards to be killed.
• Su Fei agreed to keep Liu Niang alive and send her to the Heavenly Prison, where she would write down everything she knew about the Joyous Union Sect.
• Yuan Tianzu fell onto the battlefield, saw that his forces and Liu Niang had been defeated, and vowed to return for revenge.
• Yuan Tianzu activated the Great Blood Escape Art, sacrificing his foundational essence blood and lifespan as a scarlet light enveloped him.