Chapter Summaries

Xie Yuan secretly carried a Night-Shining Pearl as the covert escort for Staff Chang’s shipment and delivered it to the Chang Residence in Five Mile Village. The household seemed unaware of the shipment, so Xie Yuan grew suspicious and rode off to meet the overt escort party.

• Zhao Xingyang revealed that Xie Yuan’s covert escort was a fist-sized Night-Shining Pearl and explained why Staff Chang might be moving his fortune.
• Zhao Xingyang instructed Xie Yuan to leave before dawn, travel discreetly, and choose his own route.
• Xie Yuan packed the pearl and his weapons, left through the escort agency’s back gate, and rode south to avoid Rooster Mountain.
• After traveling for less than three days, Xie Yuan reached the Chang Residence in Five Mile Village and handed the jade box to the steward.
• Xie Yuan noticed that Staff Chang’s household had not expected the shipment, became uneasy, and rode northwest to meet the overt escort party.

Xie Yuan comprehended and trained the second and third forms of the Heaven Burning World Destroying Spear under Elder Fu’s guidance while waiting out the clan’s crisis over Heaven Cloud Garden. When the elders finally agreed to defend it, Xie Yuan revealed that the crisis had already been resolved and the medicinal-herb convoy was returning.

• Xie Yuan demonstrated that he had comprehended Ten Thousand Enemies and Nine Hells Demon Subjugation, astonishing Elder Fu, who instructed him in both forms.
• Xie Yuan told Elder Fu that he had another plan for Heaven Cloud Garden but asked to report it later.
• Xie Wen and Xie Zhi grew anxious as Xie Yuan delayed acting, while clan members and elders increasingly pressed him for answers.
• Xie Yuan refused to disclose his plan at the council meeting, and Xie Wen, Xie Ting, and Xie Zhi finally agreed to go to battle to defend Heaven Cloud Garden.
• Xie Yuan announced that the crisis was over, and a messenger confirmed that Heaven Cloud Garden was safe and the medicinal-herb convoy was returning.

Xie Yuan comprehended the Sword Wind until the Yunshan Sword Style reached completion and he gained Sword Intent, while the Black Heaven Book helped him learn the Cloud Dragon Nine Forms. After returning to the Servant Courtyard, he discovered that Qin Zhenyang had come looking for him, and Qin arrived to summon him.

• Xie Yuan absorbed the Sword Wind in the Mountain Core, deepening his swordsmanship insights as the Black Heaven Book reached 200/200.
• Xie Yuan awakened from his prolonged swordsmanship trance, saw that the Yunshan Sword Style was complete, and tested its power while gaining a trace of Sword Intent.
• Xie Yuan found that he had entered the beginner stage of the Cloud Dragon Nine Forms and practiced its first form in the cliff cave.
• Xie Yuan returned to the Servant Courtyard and learned from Tian Zhuang that Qin Zhenyang had asked after him.
• Qin Zhenyang arrived at the courtyard and called Xie Yuan over.

Xie Yuan defeated a bandit ambush near Rooster Mountain, escaped the area with the escort party, and completed the delivery in Yulin County. Back at the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency, Zhao Xingyang rewarded him with Second-Class Merit Points and told him that a heavy chest had arrived for him.

• Xie Yuan treated his wounds after defeating the bandits, then hurried the escort party away before more enemies could arrive.
• Xie Yuan spotted Boss Song watching from Rooster Mountain, and the party continued on to Yulin County to deliver the goods.
• Xie Yuan and the escort party returned to Cloudshine by a wide detour and reported the ambush to Zhao Xingyang.
• Zhao Xingyang awarded Xie Yuan Second-Class Merit Points for the battle and said a heavy chest from Yun Province Prefecture had been delivered to his room.

Xie Yuan spent his Second-Class Merit Points on medicines and trained for ten days, greatly improving his Blood Qi, tendons, and combat strength. After agreeing to celebrate with Kong Chun and the others, he learned that Yu Chunsheng was arranging for Zhao Xingyang's upcoming escort job, which would likely include Xie Yuan.

• Xie Yuan bought Dragon Tendon Grass, Soft Gold Paste, Blood Replenishing Pills, and Antler Blood Essence Paste, spending both of his Second-Class Merit Points.
• Xie Yuan used the medicines while training for ten days, strengthening his tendons and improving his martial arts.
• Xie Yuan decided to take on more escort jobs to earn merit points, then went to Jude Restaurant to celebrate with Kong Chun and the others.
• A stern-faced man told Yu Chunsheng that Zhao Xingyang would lead an upcoming major escort job heading east.
• Yu Chunsheng concluded that Xie Yuan would likely be on Zhao Xingyang's team and assured the man that he would receive what had been promised.

Zhao Xingyang’s convoy was ambushed at Thunder Duke River, where Boss Song captured and killed several scouts to force Zhao into a trap. Zhao returned to find the convoy under attack and charged into the bandits, skewering one of their third-stage leaders.

• Zhao Xingyang led his convoy through several dangerous stretches using military-style scouts and rotating patrols.
• When the scouts failed to report near Thunder Duke River, Zhao found Boss Song and dozens of bandits holding his captured outriders.
• Boss Song threw captives into the river and taunted Zhao, who resisted charging in after a captive warned him that it was a trap.
• An outrider broke free and leaped into the river, and Zhao turned back toward the convoy while Boss Song ordered his men to pursue him.
• Zhao found another band of bandits surrounding the convoy and charging against Qin Hai and the escort guards.
• Zhao rushed into the bandits and drove his spear through one of their third-stage leaders.

After Xie Yuan and Zhao Xingyang killed Boss Song, the surviving escorts mourned their dead and continued their delivery. Xie Yuan and Zhao Xingyang concluded that someone inside the escort agency had betrayed them, leaving the identity of the mole unknown.

• Xie Yuan helped Zhao Xingyang kill Boss Song, and the battered survivors treated their wounds.
• Zhao Xingyang praised Xie Yuan's role in turning the battle around, while Xie Yuan credited his axe, Moon-Slayer.
• Zhao Xingyang learned that fourteen escort guards had died in battle and ordered the survivors to care for the dead and wounded before continuing the delivery.
• The convoy mourned at Thunder Duke River, then reached Xianglin Town to rest and seek medical help.
• Xie Yuan told Zhao Xingyang that the ambush seemed planned, and Zhao Xingyang confirmed that he suspected a mole within the escort agency.

Xie Yuan fought a giant black bear with his axe, using a great tree to evade its attacks until the bear adapted and climbed after him. He killed it with a Three-Pronged Axe strike and found that the fruit he had been protecting had not been crushed.

• Xie Yuan lured the charging black bear around a great tree and wounded its left shoulder with repeated axe strikes.
• Xie Yuan tried to strike again, but the bear blocked his axe and knocked it into the clearing.
• The black bear climbed the tree and pounced, grazing Xie Yuan's leg as he scrambled toward his axe.
• Xie Yuan retrieved his axe, dodged the bear's next attack, and killed it with a Three-Pronged Axe strike.
• Xie Yuan checked that the fruit was intact and celebrated the bear as an unexpected bonus haul.

Shen Longteng gathered the escort leaders and revealed that someone had betrayed the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency by selling Zhao Xingyang's route to the Mountain Bandits. He identified Xu Mo as the traitor, who confessed that Yu Chunsheng had coerced him through his imprisoned son, then smashed his head into the floor.

• Shen Longteng gave Zhao Xingyang a pill that began healing his injuries and told the escort leaders that the Mountain Bandits had known his route in advance.
• Shen Longteng reasoned that the traitor had to be an escort leader, and Xu Mo raised suspicions about Lu Zhenyu's meetings with County Office constables.
• Zhao Xingyang and Wei Zhen defended Lu Zhenyu, while Shen Longteng recognized that Xu Mo's behavior exposed his guilt.
• Xu Mo confessed that Yu Chunsheng had detained his only son after a gambling den incident and forced Xu Mo to betray the agency.
• Xu Mo begged Shen Longteng to save his son, then drove his head into the floor and lay bleeding in the pit he had made.

Xie Yuan fought the bandit leader while concealing his strength, then killed a Vajra Gate fighter who tried to ambush him. The bandit leader realized Xie Yuan had reached the Fourth Level of Practice, and Xie Yuan confronted the remaining Vajra Gate men.

• Xie Yuan charged the bandits alone and used his fists to suppress the Third Level of Practice leader, astonishing both the escort guards and the bandits.
• Xie Yuan held back from killing the leader so he could practice the Eight Trigrams Mountain Shaking Fist and draw out the hidden Vajra Gate men.
• A Vajra Gate fighter attacked Xie Yuan from behind with an Iron Core Baton, but Xie Yuan knocked the leader away and beheaded the attacker with Wolf Assault.
• The bandit leader recognized Xie Yuan as a Fourth Level of Practice fighter, and Xie Yuan asked the remaining burly men if they were from the Vajra Gate.

After being rescued and brought to Situ Qin’s estate, Xie Yuan recovered under Master Qingyang’s care and tested the Heaven Concealing Art he had gained from the Black Heaven Book. The next day, he shared breakfast and conversation with Situ Qin, who offered him cultivation aid and proposed a way for him to earn it.

• Situ Qin brought the injured Xie Yuan to her home, where Master Qingyang examined him and prescribed medicine for his grandmaster-inflicted neck wound.
• Xie Yuan studied the Black Heaven Book’s display, reflected on gaining the perfected Galloping Wolf Saber Art and Heaven Concealing Art, and tested the latter by making a maid fail to notice him.
• Xie Yuan woke with his injury greatly improved, joined Situ Qin for medicinal breakfast, and thanked her for helping save his life.
• Xie Yuan asked Situ Qin how to improve his Inner Strength cultivation, and she offered him medicinal ingredients or prescriptions.
• Xie Yuan refused to accept her help without giving something in return, so Situ Qin proposed that he complete a task for her in exchange for a cultivation prescription.

Situ Qin and Li Tai rescued Xie Yuan from Lu Lao San, and Xie Yuan vowed to repay the injury himself after becoming stronger. As they brought him to Situ Qin’s home in Yun Province Prefecture, the escaped woman made a mysterious calculation and disappeared into the forest.

• Li Tai arrived with Situ Qin, revealed himself as Soaring Dragon Ranking Twenty-Nine, and forced Lu Lao San to retreat without harming Xie Yuan further.
• Li Tai treated Xie Yuan’s serious throat injury, while Xie Yuan explained how he had been caught between Lu Lao San and the female Grandmaster and kept the Black Heaven Book secret.
• Li Tai identified Lu Lao San as a Western Desert bandit and suggested the female Grandmaster might belong to the reclusive North Capital Mountain Mu Family.
• Xie Yuan refused to rely on Li Tai’s power for revenge and vowed to enter the Western Desert himself once his cultivation was strong enough; Situ Qin invited him to recover at her home.
• The woman gathered her Array Flags after calculating Xie Yuan’s fortune, then vanished into the forest.
• Situ Qin, Xiao Qing, and Xie Yuan traveled by carriage into Yun Province Prefecture, where Xie Yuan saw the city’s bustling streets and approached Situ Qin’s residence.

Xie Yuan defeated Peng Wei in two saber strikes at Xue Yanwen’s banquet, shocking the gathered young masters when Situ Qin revealed he had reached the third training in barely half a year. Afterward, Xie Yuan questioned Peng Wei about Yu Chunsheng’s visit to the Judicial Commissioner and learned the Cloudshine County Commandant had called on Peng Wei’s father seven or eight days earlier.

• Peng Wei challenged Xie Yuan to a spar and agreed to answer his questions if he lost, while Xie Yuan wagered that he would keep his distance from Situ Qin if defeated.
• Xie Yuan disarmed Peng Wei with one slash and stopped his second strike just before it hit Peng Wei’s forehead.
• Du Jian suggested Xie Yuan had used Sword Intent, and Situ Qin told the guests that Xie Yuan had entered the martial path only half a year earlier.
• Xie Yuan helped Peng Wei up and privately asked when the Cloudshine County Commandant had visited; Peng Wei said it was seven or eight days ago and that his father had been away.

Mu Chaoyun stayed in Xie Yuan’s room to heal and explained that the lotus petals on his arm came from the legendary Black Heaven Book, drawing him into the struggle over it. After she revealed her Eight Trigrams Lotus page, Xie Yuan’s panel finally identified the treasure as the Black Heaven Book.

• Xie Yuan recognized the black-robed visitor as Mu Chaoyun, who asked to use his room while she healed from her injuries and hid from Lu Lao San.
• Mu Chaoyun explained that the Black Heaven Book was a legendary treasure of nine pages and that the lotus petals on Xie Yuan’s arm were part of one.
• Mu Chaoyun said she had hidden some of the page’s essence on Xie Yuan as a way to keep the Black Heaven Book incomplete if she was caught, and blamed his eating the Azure Fruit for implicating him.
• Mu Chaoyun showed Xie Yuan the palm-sized Eight Trigrams Lotus, identifying it as her page of the Black Heaven Book.
• Xie Yuan’s panel displayed “Black Heaven Book: (1/100)” after seeing the Eight Trigrams Lotus.

Xie Yuan killed Peng Jie and the two Vajra Gate instructors, securing victory for the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency and ending Vajra Gate’s hold over Cloudshine. After the agency members escaped the burning compound, Xie Yuan brought down Vajra Gate’s gatehouse.

• Xie Yuan killed Peng Jie with his Three-Pronged Axe, stunning both sides of the arena match.
• The two Vajra Gate instructors attacked Xie Yuan, but he broke their batons and beheaded them with his blade.
• Xie Yuan declared the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency the winner and let Vajra Gate disciples leave if they surrendered and renounced the gate.
• Xie Yuan explained that Master Qingyang had helped him become immune to the poison, and the escort agency members left the Martial Arts Hall together.
• The escort agency members emerged as Vajra Gate fell into chaos and caught fire, while the crowd celebrated their victory.
• Xie Yuan chopped through the gatehouse supports, bringing down Vajra Gate’s entrance.

Xie Yuan considered Shen Longteng’s invitation to join Yunshan Sword Sect while returning to his courtyard, where he found Mu Chaoyun recovering. After she caught him using the Heaven Concealing Art, she learned he had comprehended the secret art and accepted the Demon Tiger Bone he brought for her.

• Shen Longteng described Yunshan Sword Sect’s power and urged Xie Yuan to consider joining, while allowing him to choose freely.
• Xie Yuan decided to learn more about Yunshan Sword Sect before making up his mind and returned to his courtyard late at night.
• Xie Yuan entered quietly with the Heaven Concealing Art and discovered that Mu Chaoyun’s hood had fallen back, revealing her face.
• Mu Chaoyun appeared beside Xie Yuan and threatened him at the neck, then demanded to know how he had entered and learned the Heaven Concealing Art.
• Xie Yuan explained that he had comprehended the art alongside the saber technique and offered Mu Chaoyun food and Demon Tiger Bone.
• Mu Chaoyun suspected Xie Yuan of being a libertine, took the Demon Tiger Bone to aid her recovery, and left the food untouched.

Xie Yuan sparred with Huang Zifeng after refusing to let the Lin Family Siblings enter the Sword Sect without his protection. Huang Zifeng lost twice, and the chapter ended with him sprawled against the wall after Xie Yuan defeated him in three punches using Inner Strength.

• Huang Zifeng resented Xie Yuan and challenged him to a spar over Xie Yuan’s promise to protect the Lin Family Siblings.
• Xie Yuan and Huang Zifeng agreed to fight without weapons, and Xie Yuan overpowered him with the Eight Trigrams Mountain Shaking Fist.
• Huang Zifeng admitted Xie Yuan’s fist technique was strong, then asked for another match with both of them using Inner Strength.
• Xie Yuan’s abundant Inner Strength overwhelmed Huang Zifeng, and three punches sent him crashing into the wall.

Xie Yuan completed the Outer Refinement Four Gates with Mu Chaoyun’s guidance and celebrated with her. As their bond deepened, Mu Chaoyun asked why he cared for her, then offered to teach him the Eight Trigrams Lotus.

• Mu Chaoyun reflected that Xie Yuan’s rapid progress came partly from the Azure Fruit’s awakened medicinal power, which she had coaxed out with her remaining spiritual medicines.
• Xie Yuan completed the Golden Bell Cover’s second layer and broke through to the Fourth Refinement, completing the Outer Refinement Four Gates.
• Mu Chaoyun explained that Xie Yuan would need to accumulate Blood Qi to reach the Qi and Blood Transformation Realm, and they celebrated his breakthrough with a banquet and warm wine.
• Mu Chaoyun asked why Xie Yuan cared for her despite the danger and cost of helping her, and he said he regarded her as one of his own and believed she had no one to rely on.
• Mu Chaoyun rejected the suggestion that he pitied her, then asked whether he wished to comprehend the Eight Trigrams Lotus.

Xie Yuan told Shen Longteng that Peng Yue had been transferred away, leaving Yu Chunsheng exposed, and revealed that he had reached the Fourth Level of Practice. As Xie Yuan considered leaving the escort agency to explore the wider world, an unexpected visitor arrived at his courtyard.

• Xie Yuan informed Shen Longteng that Peng Yue had gone to the Capital City and that Yu Chunsheng had lost his powerful backer.
• Shen Longteng planned to expose Yu Chunsheng's crimes and drive him from his post, while Xie Yuan resolved to settle his own grudge personally.
• Xie Yuan told Shen Longteng that he had reached the Fourth Level of Practice and intended to leave the escort agency after preparing for his next journey.
• Shen Longteng advised Xie Yuan to seek Inner Strength before attempting Qi and Blood Transformation and shared how he had reached that realm.
• Xie Yuan returned to his courtyard and resumed cultivating alone, but an unexpected visitor arrived before he could decide whether to escort more shipments.

Shen Longteng rallied the Soaring Dragon Escort Agency to protect Mu Chaoyun, and its escorts split into teams to leave Yun Zhao City through all four gates. Yu Chunsheng noticed the agency’s unusual movement and headed north, where Lu Lao San and Deng Wan waited outside the city for Mu Chaoyun.

• Shen Longteng explained the dangerous escort job to the agency, and Zhao Xingyang persuaded the escorts to repay the agency’s kindness by staying; about seventy percent remained.
• Xie Yuan and the escort leaders agreed to split their teams among the four gates, with Xie Yuan acting as Mu Chaoyun’s hidden escort and Zhao Xingyang taking the North Gate.
• Mu Chaoyun gave the escort leaders bottles containing traces of her aura, and Xie Yuan suggested they tell the Horse Chopping Saber Grandmaster that Li Tai was already on the road.
• Yu Chunsheng learned that the agency was leaving through all four gates, suspected the movement was connected to the Grandmasters, and raced toward the north of the city.
• At Ten-Li Long Pavilion, Lu Lao San and Deng Wan argued warily about Mu Chaoyun as a figure approached from the direction of Yun Zhao City.