Chapter Summaries

Zhang Rongfang decided to improve his movement technique and learn the Flame Emperor Talisman and Soul Fixing Talisman, so he paid Cuckoo Daoist for instruction. Cuckoo Daoist began explaining how a martial art’s core purpose shaped its strengths and limits, and the chapter left Zhang Rongfang learning at his private training ground.

• Zhang Rongfang concluded that his movement technique was inadequate for Tanyang and resolved to seek outside techniques while continuing to practice talisman arts.
• Zhang Rongfang visited Cuckoo Daoist at Mingjing Palace and asked to learn the Flame Emperor Talisman and Soul Fixing Talisman.
• Cuckoo Daoist quoted fifty taels per talisman art and offered to teach Zhang Rongfang other martial arts as well.
• Zhang Rongfang paid Cuckoo Daoist and asked which Tanyang masters specialized in movement techniques.
• Cuckoo Daoist led Zhang Rongfang to his private training ground and explained that a martial art’s core purpose determined its focus and potential for Breaking Limits.

Zhang Rongfang learned how martial arts grades depended on whole-body training and decided to pursue Superior Martial Arts while monitoring his Life Attribute. After Lin Qixiao used Ninth Squad to run a personal errand, Zhang Rongfang considered how to secure promotion and concluded he might remove rivals or obstructive superiors.

• Wang Bude explained that Superior Martial Arts strengthened and restored the whole body, and told Zhang Rongfang about Han Yongxian, who died young after training thirteen lower-grade arts to their limits.
• Zhang Rongfang chose to use lower-grade techniques as supplements, make Superior Martial Arts his main path, and keep watch over his Life Attribute.
• Zhang Rongfang studied Talisman Arts with Wang Bude and learned the Spirit Snake Body Method for free from Wu Yufei at White Spirit Fist Hall.
• Lin Qixiao ordered Ninth Squad to find a black horse on Zhang Rongfang’s rest day, then took it away for her cousin Lin Yutong without showing an official document.
• Liu Han told Zhang Rongfang that Lin Qixiao often used the squad for family errands and that a previous complaint had led to the complainant being beaten and dismissed.
• Zhang Rongfang decided that advancement required recorded merit and considered eliminating the rivals and superiors who might prevent his promotion.

Zhang Rongfang tested the Ministry of Justice’s defenses by sneaking out at night, then spent the following week on his studies and training. When Zhao Ying, daughter of Tanyang’s richest man, disappeared, officials launched a citywide search, and Zhang Rongfang’s squad raided a gambling house.

• Zhang Rongfang tried to leave the Ministry of Justice unnoticed, but Xu Kai caught him; after paying Xu Kai, Zhang left through a designated gate and went to Cunhui Brothel.
• Zhang Rongfang hired a musician to disguise his purpose and learned that the Sixteen Heavenly Demons Dance and its Heavenly Demon Melody had become popular across the regions.
• Over the next week, Zhang Rongfang studied Talisman Art, trained in Spirit Snake Body Method, and continued patrol duty while gaining Attribute Points.
• A Shadow abducted Zhao Ying from Qinzhu Courtyard, and her disappearance brought Tanyang’s officials together to mobilize a large search.
• Zhang Rongfang led his Ninth Squad into Hundred Victories Gambling House as part of the citywide investigation, where the manager challenged their authority.

Zhang Rongfang led an official search through Tanyang, then rushed to White Spirit Fist Hall when he learned Lin Qixiao was inspecting it. He stopped Lin from seriously injuring Wu Yufei, but she withdrew only after Li Huoyun intervened.

• Zhang Rongfang searched a gambling house, accepted fifty taels from Gelu Xilai, and heard that Sea Dragon was suspected of abducting women from wealthy families.
• Little Lin told Zhang Rongfang that a challenger had defeated White Spirit Fist Hall’s disciples while Lin Qixiao’s team was heading there to search the hall.
• Lin Qixiao ordered a search of White Spirit Fist Hall and barred Wu Yufei from going to his daughter Lingling after she screamed from the Backyard.
• Lin Qixiao slashed at Wu Yufei, then attacked Zhang Rongfang when he stepped between them; she cut his uniform before Li Huoyun arrived.
• Li Huoyun asked Lin Qixiao to stop for his sake, and she withdrew with her team; Zhang Rongfang thanked Li and helped Wu Yufei up.

After Lin Qixiao’s men abandoned Zhang Rongfang and ransacked Nine Pulling Fist Hall, he kept to his duties while secretly training and waiting for an opportunity. During a pursuit of three Sea Dragon experts in Tanyang, the Black Prison Army joined the encirclement and helped bring down the fugitives.

• Zhang Rongfang ordered the Ninth Squad to continue inspecting, but its members refused to follow him and left, so he returned alone to the Ministry of Justice.
• Lin Qixiao led the Ninth Squad and other Official Messengers in a forceful search of Nine Pulling Fist Hall, while Yang Heyun held back his disciples under an unseen expert’s watch.
• Over the following days, Zhang Rongfang followed his assigned deployments, practiced Wang Bude’s talismans and the Spirit Snake Body Method, and waited for a chance to act.
• On August fifteenth, Zhang Rongfang and other officers helped encircle three Sea Dragon experts at Dingchun Gate after they killed several State Yamen fighters.
• The Black Prison Army struck down one Sea Dragon expert with a chained meteor hammer, while crossbow fire and the soldiers’ intervention killed the other two.

Zhang Rongfang witnessed the Sea Dragon experts’ powerlessness against an army, then seized a chance to disguise himself and attack Lin Qixiao. He left her badly injured and was apparently chased off by her middle-aged protector.

• Zhang Rongfang watched three Sea Dragon experts die under the army’s arrows, and the missing Zhao Ying case remained unresolved.
• A disguised official freed a long-haired Sea Dragon expert from the Ministry of Justice, and the expert left with A Song after discussing their planted scapegoats.
• The long-haired man tried to seize Lin Qixiao, but she challenged him and her hidden protector fought him alongside A Song until the Sea Dragon pair withdrew.
• Lin Qixiao was ambushed on her way to seek reinforcements; Zhang Rongfang, wearing a Sea Dragon mask, knocked her unconscious and broke her limbs.
• Zhang Rongfang dragged Lin Qixiao toward an alley, then dropped her and fled when her middle-aged protector arrived.

After Zhang Rongfang returned to the Ministry of Justice and erased the traces of his night’s work, he learned that Lin Qixiao had been crippled in an attack and took temporary command of Ninth Squad. Li Ran offered to make his appointment permanent if he handled a dangerous assignment, while Lin Hong faced his daughter’s fury over how he planned to respond to her injuries.

• Zhang Rongfang removed the Sea-marked clothing and mask he had worn, washed away their identifying paint, and returned to the Ministry of Justice.
• An officer announced that Lin Qixiao had been seriously injured and that Zhang Rongfang would handle Ninth Squad’s affairs; Zhang Rongfang dismissed the squad until their next evening gathering.
• Li Ran told Zhang Rongfang that Lin Qixiao’s limbs and breastbone were fractured, then offered him a chance to secure the permanent post by completing a dangerous task.
• Zhang Rongfang accepted Li Ran’s assignment to take Ninth Squad and eliminate a temporary Sea Dragon stronghold outside the city.
• Lin Hong visited the bandaged Lin Qixiao at Tianxuan Palace, and she accused him of repeating the response he had made after her mother’s death.

Lin Hong agreed to let Lin Qixiao take revenge on some targets while refusing to risk the Lin Family against Sea Dragon. Meanwhile, Zhang Rongfang led the Ninth Squad in a raid that killed a foreign gang leader, and the Black Ten Sect arrived to confront him.

• Lin Qixiao accused Lin Hong of abandoning her as he had abandoned her mother, and Lin Hong promised Sea Dragon would answer for her injuries while permitting her to target others; he rejected her first proposed target.
• Sea Dragon members A Song and a disheveled-haired man discussed the Lin Family dispute and decided to investigate the person who had framed them through the Black Ten Sect and Red Dog King.
• Zhang Rongfang and the Ninth Squad raided a courtyard in Huaiming Town, where Zhang Rongfang killed the golden-bearded leader after gaining insight into the Spirit Snake Body Method.
• The squad looted the buildings, including a Third Grade sword-and-shield manual, and Zhang Rongfang ordered them to withdraw despite Liu Han's warning that their victim did not seem to belong to Sea Dragon.
• Dozens of Black Ten Sect members surrounded the squad, and their white-haired elder accused Zhang Rongfang of killing Anla Bi, a believer in the Ten Karma Heavens.

Zhang Rongfang forced Basali and the Black-Clad men to let the Ninth Squad leave, then received his official appointment as captain. He returned to the squad building, accepted his subordinates’ apology, and reviewed his Attribute Panel.

• Zhang Rongfang confronted Basali and offered evidence that the town’s owner had trafficked people, but Basali rejected his authority and ordered his men to take Zhang Rongfang’s swords.
• Zhang Rongfang killed the two men who approached him, held his blade to Basali’s neck, and made the crowd open a path for the Ninth Squad to leave.
• Zhang Rongfang released Basali after the squad had left town, and Zhang Xiangyang praised him and gave him his appointment letter as official captain of the Ninth Squad.
• Zhang Xiangyang explained that official status extended tax reductions to Zhang Rongfang’s immediate family, unlike tax benefits under the Daoist Registry.
• Liu Han and the Ninth Squad members offered Zhang Rongfang an envelope as an apology, and he accepted it and agreed to let bygones be bygones.
• Zhang Rongfang returned to his room, closed his eyes, and summoned the Attribute Panel.

After breaking the Spirit Snake Body Method’s limits, Zhang Rongfang gained a major boost to his speed, moved into a rented courtyard near the Ministry of Justice, and spent a week on routine patrols. The chapter ended when Basali confronted him outside his home and accused him of framing Sea Dragon and crippling the Lin Family’s young lady.

• Zhang Rongfang spent all four available Attribute Points to break the Spirit Snake Body Method’s limits, fusing his movement techniques into a faster lightness skill.
• Zhang Rongfang spoke with Chief Captain Zhang Xiangyang, studied talisman art with Wang Bude, and decided to move out of Ninth Squad’s quarters.
• Zhang Rongfang rented a small courtyard behind the Ministry of Justice and had his squad members move his belongings there.
• Zhang Rongfang led his squad on patrols that mostly caught low-level criminals as the Ministry of Justice searched for Sea Dragon hideouts.
• Basali confronted Zhang Rongfang at his courtyard gate and accused him of framing Sea Dragon and crippling the Lin Family’s young lady.

Basali threatened Zhang Rongfang with exposing his connection to the attacks on the Lin Family and Sea Dragon, and demanded that he help a Black Ten Sect fugitive escape. Fearing for his own safety and Yang Hongyan’s, Zhang Rongfang decided to act first and set out in the night to kill Basali.

• Basali gave Zhang Rongfang an address and urged him to go easy on a Black Ten Sect fugitive, implying he knew Zhang was tied to the conflict with the Lin Family and Sea Dragon.
• Basali explained to his guards that he had threatened Zhang to test whether he had a guilty connection to the attacks, and planned to sell any useful intelligence.
• Zhang Rongfang worried that Basali’s knowledge could expose him and endanger Yang Hongyan, and concluded he would have to cooperate temporarily.
• After returning from patrol, Zhang Rongfang avoided using Wish Wheel Leaving Injury and brooded over the risks of being exposed.
• Unable to think of another solution, Zhang Rongfang dressed in night clothes, took a short sword, and slipped out to try to kill Basali.

Zhang Rongfang infiltrated the Black Ten Sect’s Saint Luofa Church to find Basali and learned the elder was investigating Sea Dragon and the Lin Family. He caught Basali trying to escape through a hidden passage, smashed through the mechanism wall, and seized him.

• Zhang Rongfang entered the Saint Luofa Church disguised in a black robe and killed an attendant who tried to raise the alarm.
• Zhang Rongfang interrogated two Big Beards and learned that Basali was staying in Silver Sand Room Number Ten to investigate Sea Dragon and the Lin Family.
• Zhang Rongfang forced a maid to lead him to Basali’s room as the church searched for an intruder.
• Basali spotted Zhang Rongfang and fled through a hidden passage, but Zhang Rongfang smashed open the closing wall with Heavy Mountain.
• Zhang Rongfang struck Basali unconscious, grabbed him, and disappeared into the Secret Passage.

Zhang Rongfang killed Basali and fought his way past Black Ten Sect pursuers, then returned home and discovered that he had been poisoned. He left the chapter with his Life attribute reduced to 19-20 and no idea when the poison had entered his body.

• Zhang Rongfang questioned Basali about who knew he had crippled Lin Qixiao, then killed him and waited for the Black Ten Sect experts to arrive.
• Basali's daughter reached the residence, grieved over her father's corpse, and clashed with Zhang Rongfang, who escaped into the shadows.
• Zhang Rongfang killed more than ten Black Ten Sect followers as he fled and forced a Fourth Grade movement expert to retreat.
• Zhang Rongfang returned home, cleaned his clothes, and assessed the formidable twin-bladed woman who had fought him.
• Zhang Rongfang noticed his Life attribute falling, realized he had been poisoned, and rinsed his nose and drank water until the decline stopped at 19-20.

After recovering from the poison that lowered his Life Attribute, Zhang Rongfang learned more about the Black Ten Sect and the powerful expert Annuowa. A neighboring merchant family sought his protection and asked him to teach their daughter, leaving him to consider his growing ties with ordinary families.

• Zhang Rongfang kept a low profile after assassinating Basali, while his Life Attribute slowly began to recover and the Black Ten Sect factions fought over their vacant elder seats.
• Li Huoyun gave Zhang Rongfang information on the Black Ten Sect, including the Seventh Grade expert Annuowa and the branch's other known fighters.
• Zhang Rongfang studied the booklet and considered how to combine Martial Arts while keeping the Black Ten Sect, the Lin Family, and Sea Dragon in mind.
• Geng Changsheng offered Zhang Rongfang ten mu of good fields in exchange for placing two hundred mu under his name as tax-free land, and they signed a contract.
• Geng Changsheng described how his family struggled against the powerful Hu Family, then asked Zhang Rongfang to consider taking his youngest daughter as a Martial Arts disciple.

Zhang Rongfang weighed his career and martial arts plans while Tanyang’s brutal purges ended, then attended a garden gathering with Li Huoyun. He left without pursuing the match Li Huoyun had arranged, keeping to himself.

• Zhang Rongfang told Geng Changsheng he would decide later whether to develop his connections in Tanyang, then considered combining his martial arts into a system suited to him.
• Tanyang’s authorities announced the destruction of Sea Dragon strongholds and executed captured members, followed by hundreds of artisans and others accused of rebellion from Hai Ling Country.
• Zhang Rongfang sent Geng Ning and Geng Nuo back soon after the Geng Family sent them to serve him.
• Li Huoyun brought Zhang Rongfang to a Green Garden gathering and urged him to approach Xue Caihe, the fifth daughter of Xue Yuanwai.
• Zhang Rongfang declined to pursue Xue Caihe, left his seat, and withdrew to a quiet corner where he politely turned away people who approached him.

At a garden gathering, Zhang Rongfang met Sun Chaoyue and later encountered Xu Miaotong, who revealed that she belonged to Golden Wing Tower and warned him that his identity might soon be exposed. She gave him a Feather Token for emergencies and urged him to return to Qinghe Temple, which was in turmoil.

• Zhang Rongfang declined Sun Chaoyue's invitation to join the Yaoyuan Book Club's red-flower scramble, and Li Huoyun later told him she was the State Governor's gifted daughter.
• As the gathering ended, Zhang Rongfang saw Xu Miaotong speaking with a nervous man, then learned from Li Huoyun that she was Assistant Prefect Xu's eldest daughter and had an unusual reputation.
• Zhang Rongfang encountered Xu Miaotong near his home, where she questioned his Third Grade rank and demonstrated that her movement technique had concealed her approach.
• Xu Miaotong gave Zhang Rongfang a Feather Token and explained that Golden Wing Tower had selected him to protect him if his identity was exposed.
• Xu Miaotong warned Zhang Rongfang that Qinghe Temple was in chaos and advised him to return there at once.

Zhang Rongfang suspected Golden Wing Tower was using news of trouble at Qinghe Temple to force him into its ranks, but he decided to return and investigate anyway. After confirming that the main routes to the Seven Counties were blocked, he went to Tanyang’s Road Market to find a guide.

• Xu Miaotong warned Zhang Rongfang that Sea Dragon and the Red Dog King were investigating Huaxin County, gave him a Feather Token, and told him to report to Thousand Guest Tower if he used it.
• Zhang Rongfang concluded that Golden Wing Tower was manipulating him through his hidden identity and the danger to his teacher, and resolved to gain strength and independent connections.
• Zhang Rongfang’s understanding of the Flame Emperor Talisman advanced, and it appeared on his Attribute Panel as Beginner.
• Zhang Rongfang gathered rumors and confirmed that routes between Huaxin County and Tanyang had been sealed and escort agencies were barred from the Seven Counties.
• Zhang Rongfang decided to return secretly and entered the Road Market to find someone who could guide him along the small paths.

Zhang Rongfang paid to join a party traveling by side paths to Huaxin County, hoping to find his Master and senior brother amid the rebellion. In Huaxin, Red Dog King revealed a plot against Zhang Xuan, while Zhang Rongfang’s guides secretly planned to rob their passengers and did not know the route.

• Zhang Rongfang found a party bound for Huaxin County, paid a deposit to Chen Guocao, and arranged to leave the next morning.
• In Huaxin County, Red Dog King told Zhao Yueting that the Zhenyong Army relied on Zhang Xuan and Zhang Xintai for grain and that an allied rebel leader planned to betray Zhang Xuan.
• Red Dog King said he was tracking Zhang Xuan’s disciple Zhang Rongfang and the Yang Family so they could be used to threaten Zhang Xuan.
• Zhang Rongfang left Tanyang with Chen Guocao, Xiao Huan, and three other travelers, then followed them onto a side path.
• Chen Guocao and Xiao Huan privately planned to abandon the travelers after taking their money, since they did not know how to reach Huaxin County.

Zhang Rongfang realized Chen Guocao and Xiao Huan had deceived him about the route to Huaxin County and killed them when they tried to attack him. He learned they had never known the way and set out to return to Tanyang for another guide.

• Zhang Rongfang noticed Chen Guocao and Xiao Huan repeatedly disappearing into the woods, but trusted them because they left their bundle behind.
• Zhang Rongfang recognized Chen Guocao’s claim that they were on Qingding Mountain as a lie and seized him.
• Xiao Huan attacked Zhang Rongfang, and he kicked her down before killing Chen Guocao when he threatened him.
• Xiao Huan admitted the couple had never known the route to Huaxin County and offered to lead Zhang Rongfang back.
• Xiao Huan tried to throw white powder at Zhang Rongfang, who broke her arm and killed her when she attacked again.
• Zhang Rongfang decided to return to Tanyang to find another guide while the other two travelers fled.

Zhang Rongfang accepted Qing Su’s help and joined the Golden Wing Tower as an Eagle Rank member so he could reach Huaxin County and deal with Zhang Xuan’s trouble. Meanwhile, Zhang Xuan met with Fang Qi at Qinghe Temple, where Fang Qi drugged him and prepared to attack.

• Qing Su told Zhang Rongfang that the Golden Wing Tower had been watching him and offered to take him to Huaxin County in exchange for joining.
• Zhang Rongfang agreed to join as an Eagle Rank member and demanded that Qing Su take him to see Zhang Xuan’s trouble resolved.
• At Qinghe Temple, Zhang Xuan and Fang Qi discussed tensions within the Righteous Army and the withheld northern grain supplies.
• Fang Qi shared wine with Zhang Xuan, and the two fell asleep after drinking wine mixed with Sleeping Drug.
• Fang Qi awoke, drew a Plum Blossom Dart, and thrust it toward Zhang Xuan.