Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuan defended Fengtian County City against Ouyang Xu and the Yan cavalry, using his techniques and a desperate breakthrough to survive their attacks. He advanced toward Ouyang Xu as the Crimson Scale Iron Cavalry approached, while Ouyang Xu remained confident they would arrive too late to save him.

• Ouyang Xu struck Zhang Yuan with his halberd, severely injuring his arms and internal organs, then ordered his cavalry to charge.
• Zhang Yuan used Iron Mountain Lean to break a charging horse’s neck, then kicked its Houtian Mid-stage rider to death with Sky-Piercing Knee.
• Zhang Yuan recovered enough to reclaim his saber and faced Ouyang Xu through a line of cavalrymen.
• Zhang Yuan shattered his Vitality and True Essence Beads to reach half-step Xiantian and raise his Mountain Yue Saber Technique to Great Perfection.
• Ouyang Xu’s generals spotted the approaching Crimson Scale Iron Cavalry, but Ouyang Xu said Zhang Yuan would not hold out until they arrived.

Zhang Yuan fought to the brink to defend Fengtian County City, but Bai Shaoting and Han Xiao arranged its surrender to Ouyang Xu as part of a larger plan. As Zhang Yuan lay gravely wounded, he learned the city had been deliberately given up, and he mourned the loss.

• Zhang Yuan fought through the Yan war riders and struck back two Xiantian Realm experts, but Ouyang Xu charged to kill him.
• Bai Shaoting arrived and stopped Ouyang Xu’s spear with an arrow, then demanded that the Yan Army withdraw from Fengtian County City.
• Ouyang Xu refused to leave without Zhang Yuan’s head, but Han Xiao offered him the city in exchange for sparing Zhang Yuan and promised Ouyang Ming would be returned unharmed in three days.
• In the carriage, Han Xiao explained that Fengtian County City had been surrendered to win over Ouyang Shucai and secure Northern Yan without further bloodshed.
• Bai Shaoting and Han Xiao grieved that the plan had required handing over a city defended by three thousand soldiers, while Zhang Yuan wept silently.

After the court’s rewards ignored the dead defenders of Fengtian County City, Zhang Yuan returned to Luyang Prefecture instead of joining Han Xiao or the Crimson Scale Army. Reunited with the survivors, he vowed to secure an account for the military merits his fallen comrades had earned with their lives.

• Han Xiao and Bai Shaoting told Zhang Yuan that the Crimson Scale Army had sacrificed its rewards to secure a general amnesty, and Zhang Yuan refused their invitations and chose to return to Luyang Prefecture.
• Duan Hong asked Zhang Yuan to look after the surviving men of Qingshan Village, while Duan Hong prepared to follow Han Xiao to the imperial capital.
• Zhang Yuan returned to Ding Family Alley and found civilians who had escaped Fengtian County City living in his family courtyard.
• Young Master Tao told Zhang Yuan that fewer than ten men from their camp had survived and showed him the cloth roll recording their military merits.
• Zhang Yuan accepted that he could no longer exchange his own merits for a chance to cultivate martial arts and vowed to help settle the debt owed to his fallen comrades.

Five years after the Battle of Fengtian County City, Zhang Yuan returned to the Luyang Prefecture Martial Guard Bureau, where the guards respected him and Chen Wu followed his lead. The chapter ended with Feng Cheng revealing Zhang Yuan’s reputation and title: Second Master Zhang of Luyang.

• Five years of peace and trade after Ouyang Shucai designated Fengtian County as a trading ground had made Luyang Prefecture more prosperous and expanded its Martial Guard Bureau.
• Feng Cheng invited Chen Wu to join the guards for drinks, but Chen Wu initially refused.
• Zhang Yuan arrived, persuaded Chen Wu to go, and teased Feng Cheng into helping find Chen Wu a wife.
• Feng Cheng told the younger guards that Chen Wu was a Houtian Mid-stage martial artist at twenty and had once driven back mountain bandits alone.
• Feng Cheng explained that Zhang Yuan had arranged for Chen Wu to enter the bureau after Chen Youde died in battle, and called him Master Tao, Divine Doctor Hu, Righteous and Loyal Zhang Erhe, and Second Master Zhang of Luyang.

Zhang Yuan’s reputation as Righteous and Loyal Second Master Zhang was revealed as he continued supporting fallen comrades’ families, Hu Chunniu’s pharmacy, and Yulin Academy. He reunited with Young Master Tao, who asked whether killing Yu Ceng had caused trouble.

• New Black Robe Guards learned that Zhang Yuan was Second Master Zhang, and Feng Cheng promised to fulfill Zhang Yuan’s request concerning Chen Wu.
• Zhang Yuan visited Hu Chunniu’s pharmacy, learned that Old Master Zheng had died, and promised to attend the funeral with Young Master Tao.
• Zhang Yuan left silver to support the pharmacy and its residents, and Hu Chunniu identified him to a patient as Second Master Zhang.
• Zhang Yuan visited Yulin Academy and met the ailing Young Master Tao, who asked whether killing Yu Ceng had caused trouble.

Zhang Yuan returned to Yulin Academy after defeating Yu Ceng, and Young Master Tao arranged to redeem his merits and conceal Black Tiger’s identity. After visiting his household in Ding Family Alley, Zhang Yuan practiced his saber techniques and checked his cultivation, which had reached the late Xiantian Realm.

• Zhang Yuan gave Young Master Tao Baichou Mountain’s confessions, deeds, and silver notes, and offered to teach Chen Wu’s evening class.
• Young Master Tao told Tao Hong to redeem Zhang Yuan’s merits, sell the deeds, collect the remaining payment, and divert speculation about Black Tiger’s identity.
• Young Master Tao reflected that Zhang Yuan had entered the Xiantian Realm before turning eighteen, while his own martial path had been severed.
• Zhang Yuan returned to his courtyard in Ding Family Alley, greeted the families living there, and practiced with his twin sabers and watchman’s staff.
• Zhang Yuan’s Golden Light Screen showed his late Xiantian Realm cultivation and listed the requirements for advancing further.

Zhang Yuan had spent five years tempering his Martial Way and building several hidden identities, while nearing the point where the Black Ice Platform would arrange further training for him. He learned that Chen Wu was troubled because he felt unworthy of a respectable girl introduced to him, and Zhang Yuan decided to help him find a wife.

• Zhang Yuan had reached complete mastery of his self-created technique, Mountains and Rivers Move, and ranked among Great Qin's top fifty in strength.
• The chapter outlined Zhang Yuan's roles as a Luyang Prefecture Black Robe Guard, Black Ice Platform captain Black Tiger, bounty hunter, Crimson Fox Caravan commander, and Lord of Eighteen Green Mountains Strongholds.
• Zhang Yuan wondered how to find the Grandmaster Tribulation and Heavenly Dao Opportunity, while the Black Ice Platform promised him systematic martial arts study.
• Guo Da told Zhang Yuan that Chen Wu had spent the previous night drinking and wiping away tears, and Zhang Yuan resolved to find him a wife.
• Young Master Tao explained that Chen Wu felt unworthy of a respectable girl whose younger sister a colleague had introduced to him.

Zhang Yuan and Young Master Tao discussed Chen Wu’s marriage prospects and plans to send him to the northern border after he married. At Old Master Zheng’s funeral, Zhang Yuan agreed to let two Zheng family children try for places at Yulin Academy and greeted former Qingshan Village leaders Yao Gao and Fang Dahe.

• Young Master Tao told Zhang Yuan that Chen Wu felt unworthy of Miss Feng because of his low status and meager pay.
• Zhang Yuan decided that he and Young Master Tao would visit the Feng Family as Chen Wu’s elders, and planned to send Chen Wu north after his marriage with a recommendation letter and military manuals.
• Zhang Yuan and Young Master Tao paid their respects at Old Master Zheng’s funeral and selected two clever Zheng family children to try attending Yulin Academy.
• Yao Gao and Fang Dahe, former Qingshan Village leaders, approached Zhang Yuan and Young Master Tao at the funeral.

At Old Master Zheng’s funeral, Kong Baitang tried to strike a deal with Zhang Yuan for Qingshan Village’s Iron Rope Pulley System, but Zhang Yuan deferred the matter and left. Yao Gao and Fang Dahe then told him Zhao Changchun wanted him to unite local bandit strongholds and seize the trade routes, a proposal Zhang Yuan rejected as he urged them to form a merchant caravan instead.

• Zhang Yuan and Young Master Tao attended Old Master Zheng’s funeral feast, where Kong Baitang offered to sell Qingshan Village’s Iron Rope Pulley System for a share of the profits.
• Zhang Yuan declined to discuss Kong Baitang’s proposal during the funeral and left with Young Master Tao, Yao Gao, and Fang Dahe.
• Yao Gao and Fang Dahe told Zhang Yuan that Zhao Changchun wanted him to become the common master of the mountain strongholds in two counties and control the trade routes.
• Zhang Yuan refused to become more involved in martial-world affairs and suggested that Yao Gao and Fang Dahe form a merchant caravan between Fengtian and the border.
• A voice behind Yao Gao and Fang Dahe accused them of remaining bandits and said Zhang Yuan could not give Qingshan Village’s brothers a good life.

Zhang Yuan and Young Master Tao discussed the Kong Family’s attempt to obtain the Iron Rope Pulley System and suspected agents from Yan State were behind it. They planned to use the Zhao Family’s rise to redirect suspicion from Black Tiger and let the Black Cavalry display its strength.

• A black-robed Zhao Family man told Yao Gao and Fang Dahe that Zhao Changchun wanted Qingshan Village to join the Zhao Family and take control of the local martial world.
• Kong Baitang reported to Young Master Xiao that Zhang Erhe had refused his proposal, then promised to use Buddhist maidens to influence him.
• Zhang Yuan told Young Master Tao that the Kong Family could not be acting alone and that Yan State spies might be pursuing the Iron Rope Pulley System.
• Young Master Tao revealed a pulley-equipped hand crossbow and explained that the Great Qin Ministry of Works was already developing pulley systems for military weapons.
• Zhang Yuan decided to visit Wang Qinian and show Qingshan Village the Black Cavalry’s battle formation.
• Young Master Tao proposed having the Black Cavalry execute Black Tiger, shifting suspicion away from Zhang Yuan and earning Wang Qinian a promotion.

Zhang Yuan met with Wang Qinian, the Black Ice Platform’s chief officer, to discuss a plan involving Black Tiger, the bandits of Jiulin County, and the secret investigation into the pulley matter. He then accepted command of a Martial Guard mission to suppress bandits in Yong'an County, while Hu Yang offered him his post and warned that the Black Ice Platform might reclaim authority over the Martial Guard Bureau.

• Zhang Yuan visited Wang Qinian at Wang Family Woodworks and recounted what he had learned at Old Master Zheng's funeral.
• Wang Qinian agreed to investigate who stood behind the Kong Family and discussed gathering the Black Cavalry to sweep bandits and underworld scum from Jiulin County.
• Wang Qinian told Zhang Yuan that he had requested his transfer to the commandery academy for Martial arts cultivation.
• Zhang Yuan visited the Martial Guard Bureau, reassured Feng Cheng about Chen Wu, and offered to lead the men sent to reinforce bandit suppression in Yong'an County.
• Hu Yang gave Zhang Yuan his waist token and asked him to take over his post after the mission, warning that the Black Ice Platform might reclaim supervisory authority over the Martial Guard Bureau.

Zhang Yuan joined a Martial Guard force marching to Yong'an County to suppress bandits on the Guangji River. After meeting the county officials, the soldiers reached the river and began arming themselves, leaving the force poised for battle.

• Zhang Yuan agreed to take Hu Yang's place on the mission and studied Tao Hong's map and intelligence before departing.
• Zhang Yuan joined Qi Junliang's team and marched south with two teams of Black Robe Guards and seven carriages.
• During a midday halt, Zhang Yuan warned Huang Sanliang to avoid fighting the river bandits underwater because they were skilled swimmers and the soldiers would be encumbered by armor.
• The force reached Yong'an County, where the military sergeant learned that the bandits had arrived by boat and ordered a rapid advance toward the Guangji River.
• At the river, Zhang Yuan collected his armor and weapons and began gearing up with the soldiers as four men gathered beside him.

Zhang Yuan led his squad to the Guangji River, where bandits attacked the county’s interception line and tried to cut the River Blocking Rope. He reached the shore, killed several attackers, and began suppressing the bandits as the fight continued.

• Zhang Yuan led his five-man squad toward the river after the military clerk ordered the guards to hold off the enemy.
• The bandits tried to break through the River Blocking Rope while Yong'an County’s soldiers and yamen runners fought them off.
• Zhang Yuan threw a short spear across the river, killing a bandit who was hacking at the rope, and County Lieutenant Xu withdrew his unarmored forces.
• Zhang Yuan’s squad formed up at the shore as bandits surged from the water, and he crushed one attacker’s neck and hurled his body into the others.
• Zhang Yuan shot charging bandits with his hand crossbow and fired repeatedly into the river.

Zhang Yuan’s Black Robe Guards used crossbows and chains to drag a bandit boat ashore, where Qi Junliang led the Black Armored Soldiers in an assault. Zhang Yuan then cut the river rope and leaped onto a second boat as the other bandits tried to escape.

• Zhang Yuan ordered his Black Robe Guards into a military formation and had them fire crossbow volleys at the bandits’ boats.
• The soldiers threw chained short spears into the first boat and dragged it toward shore while Zhang Yuan killed three bandits who attacked the chains.
• Qi Junliang and the Black Armored Soldiers boarded the grounded boat and pressed the bandits back.
• Zhang Yuan cut the River Blocking Rope, sending the other two boats downstream and pulling several bandits into the water.
• Zhang Yuan leaped across the river onto one of the moving boats.

Zhang Yuan and the Black Armored Soldiers attacked the bandits’ boats, killing or capturing those aboard and pursuing the survivors. As reinforcements arrived from downstream, the battle continued along the river.

• Zhang Yuan disabled the first boat’s oarsmen, broke its mast, and fought off the bandits until it crashed into the riverbank.
• Yu Changlong, Chen Wu, and the Black Armored Soldiers boarded the boat and joined Zhang Yuan in defeating its crew.
• Xu Xianzhong learned from the military clerk that Zhang Yuan had served in the army for three months five years earlier, and recognized the connection to the battle at Fengtian.
• Zhang Yuan and Chen Wu used a bamboo pole to reach the third boat, where they and the soldiers fought the bandits and forced many to surrender.
• Zhang Yuan cut through the third boat’s mast as the surviving bandits fled, surrendered, or were killed.
• A war horn sounded as the Yong'an County Magistrate and more than a dozen vessels approached from downstream.

After defeating the Jihe Gang on the Guangji River, Zhang Yuan’s soldiers camped by the river and reviewed the battle, while the Yong'an County Magistrate learned how Zhang Erhe’s survival lessons had become a Martial Guard Bureau tradition. A warning whistle and fireworks signaled an enemy attack, and Zhang Yuan rushed from his tent.

• Zhang Yuan treated wounded soldiers and helped secure the battlefield as the Yong'an County Magistrate recovered from vomiting.
• Xu Xianzhong told Zhang Yuan that the Jihe Gang had been nearly destroyed and that the captured ships carried stolen iron ore.
• Zhang Yuan reviewed his battle and cultivation progress, while Chen Wu and Huang Sanliang led the soldiers in a post-battle review.
• The military clerk told the Yong'an County Magistrate that Zhang Erhe’s life-saving advice had inspired the Martial Guard Bureau’s reviews and training.
• A whistle and fireworks sounded by the river bend, and Zhang Yuan sprang from his tent at the signal of an enemy attack.

Zhang Yuan rushed to the river bend after an attack on the iron ore ships and defeated the raiders, including a Buddhist Cultivator from Liangyuan Region. He killed the Buddhist Cultivator after demanding to know what the attackers were searching for, then turned his attention to a fleeing Houtian Late-stage martial artist.

• Zhang Yuan left Yu Changlong in charge of camp and hurried to the river bend, where he found guards killed and attackers fighting aboard the ships.
• Zhang Yuan boarded a ship and used powerful strikes to kill two black-clad martial artists, driving the others to flee.
• Zhang Yuan caught a fleeing saber-wielder, broke his arm, and learned that the raiders came from Guangyuan Stockade.
• A bald Buddhist Cultivator from Liangyuan Region attacked Zhang Yuan, but Zhang Yuan broke his arm in a fist clash and demanded to know what they sought.
• The Buddhist Cultivator refused to answer, so Zhang Yuan killed him and focused on a fleeing Houtian Late-stage martial artist.

Zhang Yuan pursued Yang Yaozu from the river and learned that monks had taken a Buddhist relic to Guangyuan Stockade. When flames rose from the stockade, Zhang Yuan revealed Xiantian Realm strength and rushed there.

• Zhang Yuan plunged into the river and disabled or killed the fleeing bandits as he pursued a Late Houtian Realm martial artist to the opposite bank.
• Zhang Yuan followed the man through the woods, identified him as Yang Yaozu, chief of Guangyuan Stockade, and refused his plea for mercy.
• Yang Yaozu attacked with his saber, but Zhang Yuan knocked the weapon aside with his elbow and injured Yang Yaozu's hand.
• Yang Yaozu claimed his men had only helped monks attack the ship, then handed Zhang Yuan a booklet and revealed that the monks had found a Buddhist relic among the ore.
• Yang Yaozu said the relic had been sent to Guangyuan Stockade, where the leading monk remained; flames then rose over the stockade.
• Zhang Yuan sent Yang Yaozu flying with his power and swept over the treetops toward Guangyuan Stockade, revealing his Xiantian Realm strength.

Zhang Yuan raced to Guangyuan Stockade and fought the Liangyuan Region Buddhist Cultivators who had attacked it. After defeating their Xiantian Realm leader, he left the monk asking who he was.

• Yang Yaozu fled toward Guangyuan Stockade after realizing it was burning, while Zhang Yuan hurried to the ridge to investigate.
• Zhang Yuan found evidence that the Buddhist Cultivators had slaughtered people and killed the first monk who attacked him.
• Zhang Yuan fought through the Buddhist disciples, killing or disabling several with his martial techniques and Xiantian True Essence.
• The Xiantian Realm monk tried to explain that the clash was a misunderstanding, but Zhang Yuan attacked him for killing Qin people.
• Zhang Yuan broke the monk's crescent spade with a punch and struck him down, leaving the monk to ask who he was.

Zhang Yuan killed a Xiantian Realm Buddhist Cultivator who had attacked Guangyuan Stockade, allowing Yang Yaozu to avenge its people. After the Martial Guard Bureau arrived, Zhang Yuan studied the Iron Body Skill and examined the relic he had recovered.

• Zhang Yuan killed the Xiantian Realm Buddhist Cultivator and took a meteoric-iron box from his body.
• Yang Yaozu killed the remaining Buddhist disciples, then thanked Zhang Yuan for avenging Guangyuan Stockade.
• Zhang Yuan told Yang Yaozu to take the stockade's survivors to Jiulin County and seek refuge with the Zhao Family.
• The military clerk and Qi Junliang arrived, and Zhang Yuan explained that Black Tiger had killed the Buddhist Cultivators and taken the relic.
• Zhang Yuan studied the Iron Body Skill, gained strength and Buddha Origin Beads, then opened the box to reveal a relic.