Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao persuaded Chen Xiaotao to consider cooperating by offering his martial arts knowledge in exchange for the secret manual she had inherited from Chen Xian. Chen Xiaotao became willing to negotiate, though they had not yet settled the terms.

• Chen Xiaotao challenged Meng Zhao and San Gouzi to provide evidence for their suspicions about her son, while Meng Zhao warned that rumors about Chen Xian's secret manual could attract dangerous enemies.
• San Gouzi defended his loyalty to Chen Xian, and Meng Zhao argued that Chen Xiaotao might benefit from his knowledge of martial arts and its terminology.
• Chen Xiaotao reconsidered killing the two men because she needed help understanding the manual and passing its teachings to her son.
• San Gouzi described Li Zheng's recent experiences without mentioning Wen San's death, and Chen Xiaotao grew interested in Li Zheng's martial arts background.
• Meng Zhao proposed exchanging external combat techniques for knowledge of Chen Xiaotao's manual, and she revealed that it contained only the Cloud Folding Hand, which she considered weak.

Meng Zhao demonstrated the Autumn Water Sword and his Soft Cloud Sword and Spirit Snake Hand techniques to convince Chen Xiaotao to exchange her martial arts knowledge with him. Chen Xiaotao was impressed and asked whether she could learn the techniques, while Meng Zhao offered to write them down for her.

• Meng Zhao told Chen Xiaotao that his sword art and fist techniques could help protect her and her son, then asked her to bring him a sword.
• Chen Xiaotao returned with the Autumn Water Sword, and Meng Zhao showed that it could split a falling hair cleanly in two.
• Meng Zhao performed the Soft Cloud Sword, leaving Chen Xiaotao and San Gouzi astonished by his skill.
• Meng Zhao explained the Soft Cloud Sword and promised to write a manual that Chen Xiaotao could study, though he said she might not match his mastery.
• Chen Xiaotao asked about his fist technique, and Meng Zhao demonstrated the vicious, uncanny Spirit Snake Hand.

Meng Zhao traded two martial arts for the Cloud Gathering Skill and its Cloud Ascending Pills, then began studying and practicing the mysterious Internal Martial Arts technique. As San Gouzi and Chen Xiaotao reconciled, Meng Zhao swallowed a pill and smoothly stirred cloud qi through his body with the Flowing Cloud Stance.

• Chen Xiaotao gave Meng Zhao the Cloud Gathering Skill and twelve Cloud Ascending Pills in exchange for the martial arts he brought.
• Meng Zhao studied the technique, learned how its visualization, exercises, and secret medicine worked together, and asked Chen Xiaotao about her stalled cultivation.
• Chen Xiaotao agreed to give Meng Zhao the pills and asked him to find the reason she had failed to cultivate Cloud Gathering Force.
• Chen Xiaotao reassured San Gouzi, asked him to keep her connection to Chen Xian secret, and asked him to help her son if he could.
• Meng Zhao swallowed a Cloud Ascending Pill and practiced the Flowing Cloud Stance, causing warm cloud qi to spread smoothly through his body.

Meng Zhao cultivated the Cloud Gathering Skill, formed a Cloud Seed, and studied how to improve the art by combining it with wind and frost techniques. He resolved to seek secret manuals and medicines, starting with the cold arts rumored to be found near Little Cold Mountain, before confronting the monster in its mysterious abyss.

• Meng Zhao realized his medicinal power was being absorbed to strengthen his body, explaining why Foundation Establishment cultivators could differ greatly in strength.
• Meng Zhao refined the Cloud Ascending Pill and condensed a pure white Cloud Seed in his dantian.
• Meng Zhao analyzed the Cloud Gathering Skill and considered evolving it or merging it with other Internal Martial Arts.
• Meng Zhao identified three possible paths involving wind, cloud, and frost, with Three Points Return to One Qi as his most ambitious goal.
• Meng Zhao concluded that Little Cold Mountain's Cold Toads and Snow Silkworms could lead him to an ice-based martial art, while a wind art remained elusive.
• Meng Zhao decided he would need substantial wealth, secret medicines, and a perfected Three Points Return to One Qi before attempting to face the monster in the Mysterious Abyss of Little Cold Mountain.

Meng Zhao spent a month cultivating the Cloud Gathering Skill, refining pills, and developing the Heavy Cloud Lock to control his growing Cloud Seed while preparing to seek wind and cold techniques. When Zhou Zhihan visited and tested him with her Meteor Sword Finger, she discovered that he had already cultivated force.

• Meng Zhao and San Gouzi stayed with Chen Xiaotao for two days, where Meng Zhao taught her martial arts and San Gouzi began cultivating the Cloud Gathering Skill.
• Meng Zhao returned to Little Cold Village, refined Cloud Ascending Pills, and spent a month studying their medicinal properties and practicing martial arts.
• Meng Zhao created the Heavy Cloud Lock to temper his Cloud Seed, gather Cloud Gathering Force, and slow his progress until he could combine it with future Wind and Cold Seeds.
• Zhou Zhihan visited Meng Zhao and noticed signs that he had been taking secret medicine, so he told her he could not reveal who had provided it.
• Zhou Zhihan attacked Meng Zhao with the Meteor Sword Finger, but his palm technique blocked her strike, and he healed the resulting injury with Cloud Gathering Force.
• Zhou Zhihan realized Meng Zhao had cultivated force and wondered whether he had already reached Fetal Movement.

Meng Zhao learned from Zhou Zhihan about the Fang Family’s Seven Revolutions Cold Toad Swallowing Spirit Skill and the power behind its rise. He left the conversation intent on finding more Internal Martial Arts to strengthen his own cultivation and future Three Points Return to One Qi.

• Zhou Zhihan questioned Meng Zhao about his early cultivation of Force, and Meng Zhao explained that his secret art strengthened his Martial Dao Seed and let him cultivate Force ahead of time.
• Zhou Zhihan admitted she had originally helped Meng Zhao to recruit him as an ally for her plans on Little Cold Mountain, and Meng Zhao asked what treasure she sought there.
• Zhou Zhihan explained that Little Cold Mountain held abundant resources along a Cold Dragon Vein and supplied the Cold Toad used in the Fang Family’s secret medicine.
• Zhou Zhihan described the Fang Family’s history and its Seven Revolutions Cold Toad Swallowing Spirit Skill, then recounted how the Fang Family patriarch killed Zheng Lie and destroyed the Blazing Fire Gang.
• Meng Zhao considered how the Fang Family’s art might help his plans for Three Points Return to One Qi, then asked Zhou Zhihan about the county seat’s factions and martial arts while seeking a wind skill.

Meng Zhao learned about several wind-based martial arts and the dangers of seeking a place in the county city, while Zhou Zhihan explained why the Mountain Dragon was nearly impossible to capture. The chapter left Meng Zhao still planning to venture out for martial arts treasures, now aware that harming the Mountain Dragon could bring heavenly calamity.

• Zhou Zhihan described the County Yamen's Raging Waves Art, the Cai Family's powerful but dangerous Wind Blade Tribulation, and Yuanzhen Temple's Wind and Dew Sustenance Skill, and Meng Zhao considered the latter two as possible paths.
• Zhou Zhihan warned Meng Zhao that people without status or backing faced brutal choices in the county city, while Meng Zhao secretly planned to seize martial arts manuals from its families.
• Zhou Zhihan told Meng Zhao that she had stayed in Little Cold Village because the Mountain Dragon had formed by devouring Little Cold Mountain's dragon vein qi.
• Meng Zhao asked why powerful factions had not captured the Mountain Dragon, and Zhou Zhihan explained that it wielded immense power within the mountain and was believed to be a Heaven-favored Auspicious Beast whose harm could invite calamity.

Meng Zhao learned why Zhou Zhihan was investigating Little Cold Mountain’s Mountain Dragon: the Star Palace wanted revenge after two Star Generals vanished there, and the court sought a Dragon Pearl to restore the emperor’s Dragon Essence. Zhou Zhihan also warned Meng Zhao that Tianyuan’s Demonic Path cultivators could cultivate without secret medicine by using human beings as their materials.

• Meng Zhao reasoned that powerful factions avoided hunting the Mountain Dragon for fear of losing heaven’s favor, though they might use others to bear the risk.
• Zhou Zhihan revealed that the Six Gates had ordered her to investigate the Mountain Dragon as part of the court’s search for a Dragon Pearl to restore the heirless emperor’s Dragon Essence.
• Zhou Zhihan said she had also reported the Mountain Dragon to the Star Palace, whose two Star Generals disappeared after entering Little Cold Mountain and were presumed dead.
• Zhou Zhihan explained that the Star Palace planned to assemble experts, snake-catching specialists, and two divine weapons, including the blood-draining God Slaying Spear, to kill the Mountain Dragon.
• When Meng Zhao asked about the Demonic Path, Zhou Zhihan warned him to avoid its practitioners and explained that they bypassed secret medicine by eating people and using human bodies as martial materials.

Zhou Zhihan explained the Three Origins Pills and the influence of demonic schools, Buddhism, and the Daoist School to Meng Zhao. They discussed whether Shi Luohan could defeat the Mountain Dragon, and Zhou Zhihan revealed that the Star Palace also intended to use the Eight Desolations Lock against it.

• Zhou Zhihan explained how the Three Origins Pills worked, why demonic path practitioners grew bloodthirsty, and why Meng Zhao's talent could attract their attention.
• Zhou Zhihan described the power and influence of Buddhism and the Daoist School, including the Star Palace's Golden Cauldron Elixir Technique and Shi Luohan's reputation as the number one expert under Heaven.
• Meng Zhao asked whether Shi Luohan could defeat the Mountain Dragon, and Zhou Zhihan judged the Mountain Dragon likely stronger because of its nature and long lifespan.
• Zhou Zhihan revealed that the Star Palace planned to obtain the Eight Desolations Lock, a weapon forged to restrain transcendent exotic beasts, and combine it with the God Slaying Spear to slay the Mountain Dragon.

Meng Zhao learned that the Star Palace planned to slay the Mountain Dragon with the Eight Desolations Lock and God Slaying Spear, and Zhou Zhihan wanted him to watch over the beast while she was away. He agreed to help her while privately planning to seize the weapons when the Star Palace borrowed them, leaving himself several years to grow stronger and prepare.

• Meng Zhao questioned Zhou Zhihan about the Imperial Clan's martial strength and learned that its Jiang Clan possessed thirty-six martial arts scriptures, including the Emperor's Pacify the World art.
• Zhou Zhihan explained that the Star Palace might borrow the Eight Desolations Lock from King Yan's line and the God Slaying Spear from its unknown owner to subdue the Mountain Dragon, though it expected to sacrifice expendable fighters.
• Zhou Zhihan revealed that the Mountain Dragon would be vulnerable during its transformation, which was at least three to five years away, and asked Meng Zhao to watch over it in her absence in exchange for access to the Star Palace's resources.
• Meng Zhao agreed to Zhou Zhihan's arrangement but considered secretly taking the two divine weapons once the Star Palace borrowed them.
• After Zhou Zhihan left, Meng Zhao reviewed the risks posed by the Imperial Clan and Star Palace and resolved to use the time before the Mountain Dragon's transformation to strengthen himself and advance his plans.

Meng Zhao traveled from Little Cold Village to Kaiyan County Town to investigate the Fang Family and obtain the Seven Revolutions Cold Toad Swallowing Spirit Skill. After hearing about the Fang Family’s power and Fang Zijun’s crimes, he met two men from the Three Lions Gang, who offered to bring him into their organization after recognizing his potential.

• Meng Zhao disguised himself as a timid young villager and entered Kaiyan County Town after a day of travel.
• At a tavern, Meng Zhao learned that local factions were forming a Medicine Alliance and heard accounts of Fang Zijun’s cruelty and the Fang Family’s strength.
• Meng Zhao decided Fang Zijun could be a useful target but resolved to learn more about his guards before acting.
• Two imposing men approached Meng Zhao, and he pretended to be a poor runaway while gauging their intentions.
• The men bought Meng Zhao food and introduced themselves as Three Lions Gang stewards serving the Su Family.
• The stewards explained that the Su Family’s talent-judging methods had marked Meng Zhao as a possible Martial Dao genius, and they considered recruiting him.

Meng Zhao accepted Su Dingyu and Su Dinglun’s offer to join them for a risky job, while learning more about the county town’s powerful families and the dangers surrounding the Fang and Cai Families. As they led him to Su Dinglun’s secret hideout, Meng Zhao suspected they meant to use him as a scapegoat and stayed alert.

• Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu tried to recruit Meng Zhao into the Three Lions Gang, and he pretended to be tempted by the prospect of wealth and martial training.
• Meng Zhao agreed to join the two men for a job that night without asking what it involved.
• Su Dingyu and Su Dinglun warned Meng Zhao that the Cai Family was dangerous because hidden Wind Blade Tribulation experts had defended it from threats.
• The two men described Fang Zijun as a ruthless schemer and recounted how he had ruined a young hero and seized the hero’s fiancée.
• After eating, Meng Zhao followed Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu to Su Dinglun’s secret hideout and suspected they planned to make him their scapegoat.

Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu recruited Meng Zhao for a robbery targeting a secret cache of illicit gold belonging to the Three Lions Merchant Guild, and taught him Phantom Swordplay before laying out their plan. Meng Zhao agreed while privately deciding to take the entire fortune and leave the two schemers dead.

• Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu explained that their debts had driven them to recruit Meng Zhao for a major robbery, and Meng Zhao agreed after hearing the risks and promised reward.
• Su Dinglun taught Meng Zhao Phantom Swordplay, which Meng Zhao quickly learned while pretending to be an ordinary martial novice.
• After nightfall, the three dressed in black and prepared Long Swords and Sleeve Crossbows as Su Dinglun revealed their target: twenty crates of illicit gold being stored secretly in the city.
• Meng Zhao questioned the suspicious storage arrangement and learned that the Su Family was either hiding the gold or acting as a middleman for its transfer elsewhere.
• Su Dinglun explained that he and Su Dingyu planned to flee Kaiyan City after the robbery, offered Meng Zhao twenty percent of the gold, and reiterated that they could help him join the Three Lions Gang.
• Meng Zhao accepted the plan outwardly but decided to claim all the gold and kill Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu afterward.

Meng Zhao followed Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu to a guarded residence where they planned to steal gold, gradually realizing they were guiding him as part of a larger Su Family conspiracy centered on his martial arts talent. After Su Dingyu forced him to kill two unconscious gatekeepers as proof of complicity, the group entered the residence and found its occupants already subdued by an unseen accomplice.

• Meng Zhao rode with Su Dinglun, Su Dingyu, and Old Ma, then waited while Su Dinglun went ahead to deal with the residence's guards.
• Meng Zhao questioned Su Dingyu and inferred that the Su Family pair were acting for a powerful insider who wanted to recruit him because of his exceptional martial arts talent.
• Three cat cries signaled that Su Dinglun had succeeded, and Su Dingyu led Meng Zhao to the residence's opened back door.
• Su Dingyu ordered Meng Zhao to kill two unconscious gatekeepers, and Meng Zhao killed them with two swift sword strikes.
• Meng Zhao and Su Dingyu entered the residence and found people unconscious, asleep, or drunk, suggesting someone inside had helped disable them.

Meng Zhao helped Su Dingyu and Su Dinglun seize a hidden cache of gold, then followed them to meet the mysterious Young Master behind the scheme. The Young Master judged Meng Zhao to have rare martial talent, while Meng Zhao remained wary and planned to turn the conspirators’ plot against them.

• Meng Zhao and Su Dingyu killed their way through the residence and found Su Dinglun retrieving gold from beneath the floorboards.
• Meng Zhao identified the drugged guards, killed one, and deduced that more people were involved in the scheme; Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu admitted they were guides acting for someone else.
• Meng Zhao agreed to play along as the gold was loaded onto Old Ma’s carriage, while privately deciding to wait for a chance to seize it and kill whoever was behind the plot.
• Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu changed clothes with Meng Zhao and led him through the county town to a house where Old Ma was waiting.
• The trio met the Young Master, who praised Meng Zhao’s rare martial bones and compared his potential with Shi Luohan’s.

Meng Zhao learned that Su Can wanted him to spy on Su Heng for the second branch, but he rejected the offered Thick Earth Skill and revealed his true martial strength. He killed Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu, leaving Su Can alone and in danger.

• Meng Zhao questioned Su Can about why he had been brought into the Su Family's conflict, and Su Can offered him the Thick Earth Skill and a reward for his loyalty.
• Su Can explained that Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu served the second branch while the stolen gold had been held by the third branch.
• Su Can asked Meng Zhao to pose as Su Heng's man and secretly report on him, even ordering Meng Zhao to kill Su Heng if necessary.
• Meng Zhao asked for a wind or frost-cold internal art instead of the Thick Earth Skill, alarming Su Can, Su Dinglun, and Su Dingyu.
• Meng Zhao released cloud qi and killed Su Dinglun and Su Dingyu with a single sword attack, leaving Su Can without his guards.

Meng Zhao killed Su Can after seizing the valuables hidden in his room, then eliminated the remaining witnesses to conceal his involvement. He left to pursue his other goals, including obtaining the cold art and wind art.

• Su Can offered Meng Zhao his hidden valuables in exchange for his life, but Meng Zhao made him open the trapped compartment himself.
• After finding gold, silver, and other treasures, Meng Zhao attacked Su Can, and the two fought fiercely inside the cramped compartment.
• Meng Zhao defeated Su Can with his ultimate sword move, killing him despite Su Can’s formidable internal cultivation and palm technique.
• Meng Zhao left the room and killed Old Ma, who had witnessed nothing, to ensure the night’s events could not be traced to him.
• Meng Zhao went to the neighboring residence and killed Su Dinglun’s lover, deciding to eliminate every possible witness.

After hiding the fortune he stole from the Su Family, Meng Zhao learned that the abductions had put Kaiyan County’s factions on alert. He targeted Cai Qi to investigate the Wind Blade Tribulation, but sensed that the carefree young man was a hidden master, leaving Meng Zhao unsure how to proceed.

• Meng Zhao buried the stolen treasure, created a genuine county registration under a false identity, and moved the wealth into a cellar in his new residence.
• The Su Family searched for Su Can, Su Dingyu, and Su Dinglun without admitting that their gold had been stolen, while other factions tightened security around their descendants.
• Meng Zhao investigated the Fang and Cai families and chose Cai Qi as his first target, hoping to learn about the Wind Blade Tribulation.
• Meng Zhao frequented Xiaoxiang Garden, joined the Autumn Moon Society, and met Cai Qi while posing as a merchant enamored of Qiuyue.
• Meng Zhao sensed that Cai Qi was a hidden master capable of threatening him, and reconsidered his plan to target him.

Meng Zhao tried to get close to Cai Qi to learn the Cai Family’s Wind Blade Tribulation, but Cai Qi recognized him as a formidable martial artist and confronted him. Their fight began with Cai Qi’s saber attack being neutralized by Meng Zhao’s Cloud Palm, leaving Cai Qi in danger.

• Meng Zhao chose to target Cai Qi and ingratiated himself with him at the Autumn Moon Society gathering.
• Cai Qi warned Meng Zhao that the Cai Family could not rise again and refused to reveal its secrets, then cautioned him against pursuing the family.
• Cai Qi confronted Meng Zhao in a dark alley and asked whether he had come to steal Wind Blade Tribulation.
• Meng Zhao admitted that he had originally planned to kidnap Cai Qi, and Cai Qi revealed that he had sensed Meng Zhao was a dangerous expert.
• Cai Qi attacked with Wind-Facing Blade, but Meng Zhao used Cloud Palm to deflect the saber force and challenged Cai Qi for walking into a trap.

Meng Zhao and Cai Qi negotiated an exchange in which Meng Zhao would help kill Xiong Fei and teach Cai Qi his palm move, Gloomy Clouds, in return for the original Wind Blade Tribulation. They agreed that Cai Qi would provide the secret manual first and the secret medicine formula after Xiong Fei’s death.

• Cai Qi and Meng Zhao shared a private meal, where Meng Zhao drew out details about the Cai Family’s modified Wind Blade Tribulation and its dangerous original form.
• Cai Qi agreed to give Meng Zhao the Wind Blade Tribulation manual and secret medicine in exchange for Meng Zhao’s help killing Xiong Fei and teaching him Gloomy Clouds.
• Meng Zhao accepted the assassination, and Cai Qi identified Xiong Fei, known as Pushing Across the Eight Directions, as their target.
• Meng Zhao and Cai Qi agreed that Meng Zhao would teach Gloomy Clouds first and receive the secret medicine formula after Xiong Fei was killed.
• Cai Qi described Xiong Fei’s formidable martial arts, including his immense Internal Energy and exceptionally hard fists.