Chapter Summaries

Wang Xuan arrived at Liu Zhengfeng’s golden-basin ceremony as the Mount Song Sect accused Liu Zhengfeng of conspiring with Qu Yang and seized his family. He used imperial troops to intimidate the assembled martial artists, freed Liu’s family, and ordered the Mount Song disciples shot, leaving Ding Mian, Fei Bin, and Lu Bai wounded amid the dead.

• Zuo Lengchan’s command banner halted Liu Zhengfeng’s golden-basin ceremony, and the Mount Song Sect revealed that it had taken Liu’s family hostage.
• Fei Bin accused Liu Zhengfeng of secretly conspiring with Dongfang Bubai, and Liu admitted that Qu Yang was his closest friend.
• Ding Mian ordered Liu Zhengfeng’s household executed, but Wang Xuan arrived with armed soldiers and challenged the martial artists who had threatened an imperial official.
• Wang Xuan intimidated the assembled sects with the soldiers, forced the Mount Song Sect to release Liu Zhengfeng’s family, and ordered his archers to fire.
• After three volleys, the Mount Song disciples lay dead, while Ding Mian, Fei Bin, and Lu Bai survived with serious arrow wounds.

Wang Xuan used imperial troops and Tian Boguang to defeat the Mount Song Sect attackers and execute Yu Canghai, then secured Liu Zhengfeng’s household and recovered the stolen property. Abbess Dingyi decided to follow Tian Boguang to reform him, while Wang Xuan’s authority and influence became clear to those around him.

• Ding Mian and two Mount Song Sect fighters pretended to surrender, then attacked Wang Xuan, but Tian Boguang held them off until Wang ordered the archers to fire and kill them.
• Liu Zhengfeng thanked Wang Xuan for saving his family, and Wang credited Commander Sun and warned the martial artists to obey the law.
• Wang Xuan ordered everyone to leave except Yu Canghai, while Abbess Dingyi announced that she would follow Tian Boguang and reform him.
• Wang Xuan condemned Yu Canghai for destroying the Fuwei Escort Agency and ordered Tian Boguang to capture him, but Yu tried to escape and was killed by arrows.
• Wang Xuan revealed that he had kept Yu Canghai alive long enough to gather his disciples and recover the stolen goods, then thanked Qu Yang and sent Commander Sun away.
• Wang Xuan’s men deployed through the Liu residence, and Tian Boguang told Abbess Dingyi that his master was a Juren known as Mr. Wuzhou.

Wang Xuan arranged for Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang to relocate to Fujian, then traveled north with Tian Boguang, Abbess Dingyi, and Yue Buqun. In Putian, a monk reported Wang Xuan’s actions to an abbot, who faced growing unrest among his tenant farmers and believers.

• Wang Xuan told Liu Zhengfeng to move with Qu Yang to Fuzhou Prefecture, and they agreed to go with their households.
• Wang Xuan sent Ye Huo to arrange for Liu Zhengfeng’s household and then set out north with Tian Boguang and Abbess Dingyi.
• Abbess Dingyi pursued Tian Boguang and teased him about being a lecher, while Wang Xuan and Liu Zhengfeng speculated about her desire to marry.
• Yue Buqun and his disciples joined Wang Xuan’s group on the road, and Wang Xuan arranged for Tian Boguang to travel with the nuns.
• At a temple in Putian, a burly monk reported to the abbot that Wang Xuan had killed Mount Song Sect disciples and disrupted rents and labor among the temple’s believers.

Prince Tang agreed with Monk Cihui’s proposal to kill Wang Xuan and seize his industries, while Wang Xuan’s party reached the Kunlun Mountains, where he began training Tian Boguang to perceive nature. The chapter left Wang Xuan staring in shock as Tian Boguang stripped naked in the snow to practice.

• Monk Cihui persuaded Prince Tang that Wang Xuan was a demon and that annual Buddhist rituals could cleanse the sins of his industries.
• Prince Tang, the Left Chief Clerk, and a eunuch began planning Wang Xuan’s assassination and the takeover of his fortune.
• Near Mount Hua, Abbess Dingyi fought Tian Boguang before threatening to pursue him after she returned her disciples to Mount Heng.
• Wang Xuan and Tian Boguang traveled through Gansu and Qinghai to the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, where Wang Xuan revealed he was seeking the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
• Wang Xuan explained his nature-based National Martial Arts training, and Tian Boguang tore off his clothes and stood naked in the cold.

Zuo Lengchan learned that Wang Xuan had killed three of the Mount Song Sect’s Grand Guardians and planned to use the deaths to rally against Yue Buqun. Back on Huashan, Yue Buqun sent Linghu Chong to the Cliff of Reflection, where they discovered secret sword manuals, while Wang Xuan guided Tian Boguang into the snowy Kunlun Mountains.

• Zuo Lengchan received news that Wang Xuan had killed three Grand Guardians, then ordered Le Hou to bring Feng Buping and the other two brothers out of seclusion to challenge Yue Buqun’s leadership of Huashan.
• Yue Buqun returned to Huashan and told Ning Zhongze that Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan had been captured but were safely rescued.
• Linghu Chong argued with Yue Buqun over Tian Boguang and the Five Tiger Gate, so Yue Buqun sentenced him to spend a month at the Cliff of Reflection.
• Yue Buqun discovered carvings of the Five Great Sword Sects’ techniques and counters in the cave, and ordered Linghu Chong to memorize them in secret.
• Wang Xuan advised the shivering Tian Boguang to control his body temperature as they traveled into the snowy Kunlun Mountains.

Wang Xuan and Tian Boguang endured a month in the Kunlun Mountains, where Wang Xuan shed the remnants of his former identities and Tian Boguang broke through to Hua Jin. After finding the Nine Yang Manual and converting his cultivation, Wang Xuan appeared to stop breathing, leaving Tian Boguang panicking beside him.

• Wang Xuan and Tian Boguang trekked through the freezing mountains, training as the harsh conditions gradually strengthened their bodies and minds.
• At the summit, Wang Xuan let go of the hidden selves within him, while Tian Boguang broke through to Hua Jin and lost all his hair; an avalanche followed their commotion.
• Wang Xuan and Tian Boguang skied down the mountains and found a secluded valley, where Wang Xuan located a cave package containing the Nine Yang Manual.
• Wang Xuan studied the Nine Yang Divine Skill and had the system convert his internal energy, completing his first circulation of the new art.
• Wang Xuan let out a scream and stopped breathing, so Tian Boguang panicked and slapped his face.

Wang Xuan recovered from the backlash of cultivating the Nine Yang Divine Skill, defeated Tian Boguang in a sparring match, and prepared to leave Kunlun with several newly recorded scriptures. At Huashan, Yue Buqun expanded the sect while Linghu Chong overheard a late-night conversation about an execution.

• Wang Xuan woke after five days of agony, recovered with the Nine Yang Divine Skill, and secretly resolved to punish Tian Boguang for slapping him.
• Wang Xuan overpowered Tian Boguang in a sparring match, chased him down, and promised to write out the Nine Yang Divine Skill for him.
• Wang Xuan and Tian Boguang gathered their belongings and prepared to return from Kunlun after Wang Xuan gained the Nine Yang Divine Skill, Poison Scripture, and Medical Scripture.
• Yue Buqun used Wang Xuan's money to stock Huashan's supplies and recruited fourteen more disciples, bringing the sect to more than seventy.
• Linghu Chong left his month-long confinement, drank heavily at a tavern, and overheard people say that Third Brother would be beheaded the next day.

Linghu Chong joined the Lingxi Seven Fiends in rescuing their imprisoned Third Brother, killed the county magistrate during the jailbreak, and revealed his identity as a Huashan disciple. Yue Buqun caught up with the Seven Fiends and killed them to conceal Linghu Chong’s involvement, then returned to the city as it descended into chaos.

• Linghu Chong overheard the Lingxi Seven Fiends planning to rescue their imprisoned Third Brother and volunteered to help despite their misgivings.
• The Seven Fiends caused chaos at the execution ground while Linghu Chong fought his way onto the platform, killed the county magistrate, and helped free Third Brother.
• Yue Buqun arrived with fourteen new disciples, witnessed Linghu Chong’s attack, and was unable to stop him or prevent him from escaping with the Seven Fiends.
• Yue Buqun pursued the group and learned that Linghu Chong had joined them of his own accord, then killed all seven to keep their connection to Huashan secret.
• Yue Buqun returned to the city, settled his new disciples at an inn, and stayed overnight amid the ensuing turmoil.

Yue Buqun punished Linghu Chong for helping the Lingnan Seven Fiends raid an execution ground, while Feng Qingyang secretly began teaching him flexible swordsmanship and the principle of having no fixed moves. The chapter ended with Feng Buping and his allies arriving at Huashan to challenge Yue Buqun and reclaim the sect’s leadership.

• Yue Buqun confronted Linghu Chong over the raid and killing of a county magistrate, then revealed that he had killed the Lingnan Seven Fiends to protect Huashan from imperial blame.
• Yue Buqun struck Linghu Chong and threatened to eliminate him, but Ning Zhongze intervened and sentenced him to spend a year facing the wall at the Cliff of Reflection.
• Feng Qingyang found Linghu Chong practicing and showed him how to perform Huashan sword techniques fluidly rather than follow their forms rigidly.
• Feng Qingyang taught Linghu Chong that the highest swordsmanship relied on having no fixed moves, and Linghu Chong eagerly grasped the idea.
• Le Hou, Feng Buping, Cong Buqi, and their allies arrived at the foot of Huashan, intending to force Yue Buqun to answer for the sect and reclaim its leadership.

Feng Qingyang forced Yue Buqun to step down as Huashan Sect Leader and installed Linghu Chong, who defeated Feng Buping. After hearing Yue Buqun’s account, Wang Xuan explained his failures as a master and leader, then asked why Huashan had risen and declined, leaving Yue Buqun to wonder whether the sect had threatened Shaomu Temple.

• Feng Qingyang appeared at Huashan and silenced the Mount Song Sect’s challenge to Yue Buqun.
• Feng Qingyang questioned Yue Buqun about Wang Xuan and removed him as Sect Leader, then appointed Linghu Chong.
• Linghu Chong defeated Feng Buping with the swordsmanship Feng Qingyang had taught him, and Yue Buqun left Huashan with Ning Zhongze.
• Wang Xuan returned from the Kunlun Mountains, read reports of Linghu Chong’s succession, and met Yue Buqun in Fengxiang Prefecture.
• Yue Buqun recounted his removal, and Wang Xuan told him that he had failed to judge Linghu Chong and had handled too much himself as Sect Leader.
• Wang Xuan asked why Huashan had risen to greatness only to decline, and Yue Buqun guessed that the sect had threatened Shaomu Temple.

Wang Xuan persuaded Yue Buqun to rebuild Huashan’s legacy as the Quanzhen lineage, then continued toward Fujian with his companions. In Quanzhou, Prince Tang and Kong Minbo arranged an ambush with powerful crossbows and Shaomu Temple’s help, leaving Wang Xuan’s return under threat.

• Wang Xuan argued that Huashan’s regional name had constrained its growth and urged Yue Buqun to carry the Quanzhen lineage forward.
• Yue Buqun accepted Wang Xuan’s reasoning and bowed to thank him for enlightening him.
• Wang Xuan and his companions rested for a day, then set out for Fujian.
• After learning Wang Xuan was returning, Prince Tang ordered Commander Zou Tonghua to prepare an attack, but Kong Minbo warned him of Wang Xuan’s strength and companions.
• Kong Minbo proposed arming two hundred guards with powerful crossbows, and Prince Tang agreed to pay twenty thousand taels for them.
• Kong Minbo asked Shaomu Temple for assistance, and Monk Cihui agreed to help slay Wang Xuan as a supposed demon.

Wang Xuan and his companions were ambushed in Tingzhou by men using powerful crossbows, but he survived and led a brutal counterattack. After reaching the prefectural headquarters, he learned that the attackers were connected to Prince Tang's Mansion.

• Wang Xuan sensed an ambush as he entered Tingzhou, and he used steel plates to shield himself and Ning Zhongze from a volley of crossbow bolts.
• Wang Xuan stormed a building and slaughtered its attackers, then deflected a siege-crossbow spear and killed the bald man who had fired it.
• Wang Xuan and Tian Boguang attacked another building while Yue Buqun captured a leader, and their forces subdued the remaining attackers.
• Wang Xuan ordered the bodies cleared and the battlefield burned before taking his companions to the Tingzhou Prefecture headquarters.
• Wang Xuan's subordinate reported that the attackers came from Prince Tang's Mansion and that Yue Buqun had captured a Tingzhou Prefecture thousand-household involved in the ambush.

After Wang Xuan survived an assassination attempt tied to Prince Tang's Mansion and Shaomu Temple, he moved to contain the incident and turn it to his advantage. He returned to Fuzhou, framed Prince Tang as a rebel, and ordered the proclamation spread across Fujian.

• Wang Xuan and Yue Buqun identified a slain assassin as a Shaomu Temple monk, and Wang Xuan ordered five hundred Special Operations Team members to surround Prince Tang's Mansion.
• Wang Xuan paid Prefect Fu ten thousand taels of silver to suppress the incident, then rushed back to Fuzhou with Yue Buqun and the others.
• Wang Xuan reviewed intelligence on Prince Tang and explained to Yue Buqun how his control of Fujian's officials, military, and information networks could keep the court in the dark.
• Wang Xuan ordered a proclamation issued in Prince Tang's name accusing the emperor of corruption and declaring Prince Tang a rebel.
• Wang Xuan ordered the Quanzhou garrison commander monitored and the proclamation distributed throughout Fujian, where it left readers stunned.

Wang Xuan used a fabricated rebellion proclamation to isolate Prince Tang and persuaded Governor Li Shantang to let him proceed, while Southern Shaomu Temple killed Kong Minbo's family to conceal its ties to the prince. Prince Tang learned that he had been branded a rebel and found his mansion surrounded, leaving him trapped and publicly disgraced.

• The abbot of Southern Shaomu Temple ordered Cihui to kill Kong Minbo's entire family after learning of Wang Xuan's proclamation.
• Wang Xuan told Li Shantang that the proclamation could be used to justify crushing Prince Tang and win the governor a promotion, and Li silently gave him free rein.
• Wang Xuan's men sealed off Prince Tang's Mansion and captured people who tried to leave, while Tian Boguang discovered Kong Minbo's family had been murdered.
• The abbot explained to Cihui that Southern Shaomu Temple had to cut its ties to Prince Tang because accusations of rebellion could bring the court's scrutiny upon the temple.
• Prince Tang berated Zou Tonghua and rejected the idea of sharing his wealth with local clans, then grew alarmed when his Left Chief Clerk and messengers failed to return.
• A messenger told Prince Tang that a proclamation bearing his seal accused him of rebellion, and Prince Tang realized his mansion was surrounded and Wang Xuan had trapped him.

Wang Xuan arrived in Quanzhou and confronted Prince Tang, accusing him of rebellion with evidence he had fabricated and forcing him to leave a fingerprint on a proclamation. Wang Xuan spared Prince Tang but ordered the rest of the prince's household killed, then began explaining collective punishment to the furious Abbess Dingyi.

• Wang Xuan entered Quanzhou with five hundred Special Operations Team members while local families and officials watched.
• Wang Xuan arrived at Prince Tang's Mansion, where Abbess Dingyi reunited with Tian Boguang and stopped him from escaping.
• Wang Xuan confronted Prince Tang, declared that he had rebelled, and presented fabricated evidence including a dragon robe, an Imperial Seal, and armor.
• Wang Xuan forced Prince Tang to press his fingerprint onto a proclamation and ordered everyone in the mansion gathered.
• Wang Xuan promised not to kill Prince Tang but ordered his men to slaughter the rest of the household, and Abbess Dingyi tried to stop him.
• Wang Xuan held Abbess Dingyi back and began explaining why collective punishment existed.

Wang Xuan had Prince Tang’s family killed, forced Prefect Liu to die and used his death to control Quanzhou’s officials. He then moved to seize the Quanzhou garrison leadership, beginning with Commander Zhao.

• Wang Xuan ordered Prince Tang’s family executed, took the residence’s valuables and found the first four stages of the Sunflower Manual.
• Wang Xuan had Prefect Liu hanged and arranged a false confession memorial blaming him for failing to uncover Prince Tang’s rebellion.
• Wang Xuan appointed Yan Xuezheng to govern Quanzhou Prefecture and gave him and the Tongpan chests of silver to secure their cooperation.
• Wang Xuan and Li Yan led disguised Imperial Guards to Commander Zhao’s residence and killed eight guards who had surrendered.
• Li Yan accused Commander Zhao of selling military weapons and powerful crossbows, and ordered his men to arrest everyone present.

Wang Xuan crushed Prince Tang’s allies in Quanzhou, concealed his role in the killings, and returned to Fuzhou with Prince Tang as a prisoner. He turned Prince Tang into a cement block before Governor Li, who fled to prepare his report, while Qinghong Zaobai teased Wang Xuan about the young eunuchs he had brought back.

• Wang Xuan’s Imperial Guard defeated Commander Zhao’s men, and Li Yan killed Commander Zhao after Wang Xuan fabricated a record portraying him as a rebel.
• Wang Xuan sent Li Yan to seize the other five battalion commanders, burned Prince Tang’s mansion, and left Quanzhou after eliminating its upper officials.
• Governor Li visited Wang Xuan’s manor, where Wang Xuan revealed that he had brought Prince Tang back alive.
• Wang Xuan and Governor Li went to the private prison, where Prince Tang begged Governor Li to save him before Wang Xuan slapped him aside.
• Qinghong Zaobai placed Prince Tang in a mold, and Wang Xuan had cement poured around him as Governor Li watched in horror.
• Governor Li hurried away to write a memorial, and Qinghong Zaobai teased Wang Xuan about the young eunuchs he had brought back.

Wang Xuan arranged to send trained eunuchs to the capital and sought Governor Li’s support for promoting Taoism and curbing Buddhism in Fujian. He left the governor’s office with Yue Buqun tasked with rebuilding the Quanzhen line, then advised him to study Taoist philosophy rather than focus chiefly on martial arts.

• Wang Xuan put Qinghong Zaobai in charge of educating and training the eunuchs, while assigning returned maids to the Hundred Flowers Sect or to military officers.
• Wang Xuan asked Governor Li to help appoint military commanders and discussed supporting Li’s possible advancement in the imperial court.
• Wang Xuan proposed gradually weakening influential Buddhist institutions by investigating unlawful monks and promoting Taoism, and Governor Li agreed to provide official recognition and publicity.
• Wang Xuan introduced Yue Buqun as a Quanzhen successor who would reopen the sect in Fujian, bestowed the religious name Wuchenzi, and asked Governor Li to support him.
• On the way home, Wang Xuan told Yue Buqun to study Taoist classics and argued that philosophy, not martial arts, should form the foundation of a Taoist sect.

Wang Xuan planned to build the Quanzhen Sect into a powerful Taoist organization by funding temples, training literati and child disciples, and using medical care to attract believers. He also strengthened the Imperial Guard and ordered Li Yan to gather intelligence before Abbess Dingyi arrived with Tian Boguang to ask about learning National Martial Arts, leaving Wang Xuan plotting something that alarmed Tian Boguang.

• Wang Xuan told Yue Buqun to organize Taoist scriptures into textbooks and promised him funding, a hundred literati, and five hundred child disciples to establish temples across Fujian.
• Wang Xuan gave Yue Buqun a Medical Scripture and tasked him with training doctors to support Taoist outreach through free clinics.
• Wang Xuan instructed Li Yan to rebuild the Imperial Guard, assigned Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang to strengthen it, and ordered him to collect intelligence on local elites, Buddhist monks, and officials.
• Wang Xuan had Ye Huo secretly monitor Li Yan to balance the Imperial Guard and safeguard his own influence.
• Abbess Dingyi brought Tian Boguang to Wang Xuan and pressured him to explain that she wanted to learn National Martial Arts.
• Wang Xuan smiled mischievously after hearing Abbess Dingyi's request, prompting Tian Boguang to try to leave.

Wang Xuan forced Abbess Dingyi to marry Tian Boguang in exchange for teaching her the Nine Yang Divine Skill, then trained underwater while preparing to confront Japanese Pirates threatening his allies’ maritime trade. After Qi Xuefeng traced the pirates to Zhejiang merchants, Wang Xuan ordered his forces to prepare for an expedition and began planning a larger move.

• Wang Xuan caught Tian Boguang as he tried to escape and offered Abbess Dingyi the Nine Yang Divine Skill if she returned to secular life and married him.
• Abbess Dingyi agreed, seized Tian Boguang, and took him away while he protested.
• Wang Xuan trained underwater with the Nine Yang Divine Skill and National Martial Arts, using the sea’s resistance to work toward a breakthrough.
• Ye Huo reported that Japanese Pirates and bandits had attacked the maritime trade of Wang Xuan’s allies and appeared in coastal ports.
• Qi Xuefeng told Wang Xuan that the pirates likely came from Zhejiang and were acting for established maritime merchants threatened by Fujian trade.
• Wang Xuan ordered Qi Xuefeng to train his troops and prepare to exterminate the Japanese Pirates, while considering how to use the conflict for a larger plan.