Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao and Lü Zhong concluded that Sun Chuanshan likely arranged both the estate raid and road ambush, while someone in the Meng residence may have leaked information to him. Meng Zhao decided to consult Eldest Uncle before choosing how to retaliate and warned Lü Yue to conceal his suspicions about the First House.

• Meng Zhao asked whether Sun Chuanshan had ordered the road ambush, and Lü Zhong agreed that Sun was probably behind both attacks.
• Lü Zhong warned that targeting Sun Chuanshan could provoke the Sun Family and urged Meng Zhao to consider the consequences for the Second House.
• Lü Yue pointed out that the ambush required information from inside the Meng residence, suggesting a connection to the First House’s internal rivalry.
• Meng Zhao considered whether Meng Xi or Meng Wen had arranged the leak, but Lü Zhong advised him to focus on Sun Chuanshan and avoid making a wider issue of it.
• Meng Zhao told Lü Yue to keep his suspicions secret and act normally around the First House.
• Meng Zhao said he would decide how to deal with Sun Chuanshan after reporting the matter to Eldest Uncle.

Meng Zhao offered condolences and compensation to the families of the guards killed in the attack, then toured the estate and found its Medicine Field burned to ruin. He asked whether the precious land could be restored.

• Meng Zhao asked Lü Zhong to compensate the dead guards’ families, reward the wounded, and find the guard who had betrayed the estate.
• Meng Zhao visited the dead guards’ families in mourning clothes, gave them silver, and promised to provide for their children.
• Meng Zhao toured the estate with Lü Zhong and Lü Yue, seeing its workshops, livestock pens, and fish pond.
• Meng Zhao and Lü Yue found the estate’s thirty mu of Medicine Field charred and learned that the fire had ruined its medicinal crops.
• Meng Zhao asked Lü Zhong whether the Medicine Field could be restored.

Lü Zhong discovered that the burned Medicine Field concealed traces of an Earth Spirit Pearl, a treasure capable of helping Houtian Realm martial artists cultivate inner strength. Meng Zhao realized the pearl could solve a major obstacle in his own cultivation, though its whereabouts remained unknown.

• Lü Yue rescued a child who had fallen into a shallow pit in the burned Medicine Field.
• Lü Zhong recognized the stone in the child’s hand as an Earth Spirit Stone and hurried the others to where the child found it.
• Lü Zhong examined the pit and concluded that thieves had stolen a treasured heirloom of Meng Mansion.
• Lü Zhong explained that Earth Spirit Stones were byproducts of geomantic treasure lands that produced the far more valuable Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Meng Zhao learned that an Earth Spirit Pearl could supply Heaven and Earth Vital Energy for inner strength cultivation and saw its potential value to him.

Meng Zhao and Lü Zhong concluded that a guard who faked his death had likely stolen the Earth Spirit Pearl and arranged the raid to conceal his theft. Meng Zhao ordered Lü Zhong to find the guard while keeping the treasure secret, then left the estate for the residence.

• Meng Zhao and Lü Zhong reasoned that the Medicine Field had been burned to hide the theft of its Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Meng Zhao identified the escaped guard as the likeliest thief and deduced that he had used Sun Chuanshan as a scapegoat.
• Meng Zhao told Lü Yue and Lü Zhong not to inform his eldest uncle or involve the Sun and Meng Families’ conflict.
• Meng Zhao ordered Lü Zhong to mobilize their resources to find the guard, and Lü Zhong promised to support him.
• Meng Zhao abandoned his plan to stay overnight and returned to the residence by carriage with Lü Yue and the attendants.

Sun Chuanshan grew violently arrogant after a momentous but unsuccessful act and demanded that Hanxiang leave her current guest to serve him. Mama Wen went to ask Hanxiang’s guest, a handsome young master with an injured hand, to yield her to Sun Chuanshan, leaving his response unresolved.

• Sun Chuanshan angrily demanded that Mama Wen make Hanxiang accompany him, claiming the Sun Family deserved respect throughout Nan'an City.
• Sun Chuanshan dragged a girl by the hair and kicked her unconscious when she cried, frightening the other women.
• Sun Chuanshan ordered the unconscious girl removed and resumed drinking with the round-faced girl.
• Mama Wen found Hanxiang pouring wine affectionately for a handsome young master with an injured hand and jade-green Buddhist beads.
• Mama Wen apologized and asked Hanxiang’s guest to yield her to Sun Chuanshan, offering to waive the night’s expenses.

Meng Zhao and Lü Yue lured Sun Chuanshan to Hanxiang’s chamber after pretending to yield the woman to him. Sun Chuanshan arrived drunk and arrogant, and Meng Zhao confronted him while offering to drink together.

• Mama Wen carried Meng Zhao and Lü Yue’s message to Sun Chuanshan, who agreed to meet them.
• Lü Yue knocked Hanxiang unconscious and laid her on the bed while Meng Zhao waited for Sun Chuanshan.
• Sun Chuanshan left his room with a girl in his arms and his two guards following him.
• Sun Chuanshan kicked open Hanxiang’s chamber door and called for her to drink with him.
• Meng Zhao and Lü Yue stood to greet Sun Chuanshan, and Meng Zhao invited him to drink.

Meng Zhao befriended Sun Chuanshan while concealing his identity, then revealed that he was the Meng Zhao whom Sun had arranged to attack earlier that day. Sun Chuanshan sobered up in terror, fearing the attack had been exposed.

• Sun Chuanshan insulted Meng Zhao, but Meng Zhao responded with flattery and won his favor.
• Lü Yue suggested taking Sun Chuanshan’s guards outside, and Sun sent them away with him.
• Sun Chuanshan asked about Meng Zhao’s background, and Meng Zhao said he had recently returned from Jade Capital.
• Sun Chuanshan disparaged Meng Zhao and wrongly called him a monk, so Meng Zhao clarified his time at Great Compassion Temple.
• Sun Chuanshan realized his drinking companion was Meng Zhao and panicked, suspecting the earlier attack had been discovered.

Meng Zhao confronted Sun Chuanshan over the robbery of his estate and the attack on his party, forcing the frightened young master to face his suspicions. Sun Chuanshan denied involvement and offered money to settle the matter.

• Sun Chuanshan feared Meng Zhao and realized his bodyguards were absent while they were drinking and visiting courtesans.
• Meng Zhao accused Sun Chuanshan of having a hand in the theft of herbal ingredients, the burning of Medicine Fields, and the killing of seven guards.
• Meng Zhao said the men who attacked him had been the same thieves who raided his estate, and Sun Chuanshan denied knowing anything about either incident.
• Sun Chuanshan tried to flee, but Meng Zhao seized his shoulder and forced him back into his chair.
• Sun Chuanshan apologized, continued to deny involvement, and offered money to compensate Meng Zhao for his losses.

Meng Zhao forced Sun Chuanshan to confess to organizing the raid on his estate and the attempted kidnapping, then pressed him for the whereabouts of Bai Yang and the hired men. Sun Chuanshan claimed he did not know where Bai Yang had gone and said the men had returned to his cousin, leaving Meng Zhao without the leads he wanted.

• Sun Chuanshan tried to settle the matter with money, but Meng Zhao grabbed him by the throat and threatened him until he submitted.
• Sun Chuanshan confessed that gambling debts to the Black Gold Organization and Bai Yang's encouragement had led him to raid Meng Zhao's estate.
• Sun Chuanshan revealed that the armed men belonged to the Sun Family and were borrowed from his martial-arts-talented cousin, while the noon attack had aimed to kidnap and extort Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao asked where Bai Yang and the men were, seeking to learn who had taken the Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Sun Chuanshan said Bai Yang had vanished with money and the men had returned to his cousin, then begged Meng Zhao not to destroy them.

Meng Zhao forced Sun Chuanshan to help him recover a valuable item taken by Bai Yang's men, and Sun Chuanshan offered to lure the group into a trap. Sun Chuanshan also revealed a clue to Bai Yang's secret family, giving Meng Zhao a possible way to track him down.

• Meng Zhao struck Sun Chuanshan and explained that he cared most about recovering something the attackers had taken.
• Sun Chuanshan realized Bai Yang's group had used him and offered to lure them into an ambush for Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao made Sun Chuanshan swallow a poison called Rouge Red to guarantee his cooperation.
• Sun Chuanshan revealed that Bai Yang had once redeemed a woman from the Spring Welcome Pavilion and might have had a child with her.
• Meng Zhao decided his men could investigate the woman's records to find Bai Yang.

Meng Zhao arranged to inspect the Sun Family’s antique treasures for energy points and spent the next two days cultivating and managing the Second Branch. He then received Lu Shun, who asked him to sell Meng Xi the Second Branch’s Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass business.

• Meng Zhao told Sun Chuanshan that he wanted to inspect the Sun Family’s antique treasures, and Sun Chuanshan agreed to borrow some from his family.
• Meng Zhao practiced the Luohan Fist and, over two days, raised the Sky-Illuminating Mirror’s energy points from 3,900 to 9,700 by visiting Sun Chuanshan’s residence.
• Meng Zhao delegated the search for Bai Yang and the attackers to Lü Zhong and Lü Yue while he cultivated and learned to oversee the Second Branch’s affairs.
• Meng Zhao learned that a suspected informant had drowned, and he ordered Lü Yue to dismiss potentially problematic people under the Second Branch.
• Lu Shun visited Meng Zhao and asked him to sell Meng Xi the Second Branch’s Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass business.

Meng Zhao rejected Meng Xi’s attempt to take the Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass businesses, invoking family principles and his official status. Lu Shun realized that forcing the matter could bring ruinous consequences for the Meng Family.

• Lu Shun visited Meng Zhao on Meng Xi’s behalf and tested his attitude toward handing over the two businesses.
• Meng Zhao considered the businesses’ value and their importance to the Second Branch’s connections and legacy.
• Meng Zhao refused Lu Shun’s demand, saying the businesses had been established by his father and could not be surrendered.
• Meng Zhao threatened to appeal to the Meng Family’s ancestors or take the three treasures of Heavenly Injury to the capital and seek justice from Great Emperor Beitang Sheng.
• Lu Shun recognized that Meng Zhao’s status and threats made the consequences of taking the businesses too dangerous to ignore.

Meng Zhao forced Lu Shun to abandon Meng Xi’s attempt to claim the second branch’s businesses, while offering to yield everything except two herbs left by his late father. He then heard promising updates about Lü Zhong’s search for Bai Yang and Lü Yue’s investigation of Sun Chuanshan’s men.

• Meng Zhao rejected Lu Shun’s request for the Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass, and Lu Shun knelt to apologize and promised to relay his decision to Meng Xi.
• Meng Zhao said the two herbs were mementos from his late father but offered Meng Xi the rest of the second branch’s possessions.
• After Lu Shun left, Meng Zhao resolved to strengthen the second branch and considered joining forces with Meng Wen if Meng Xi became hostile.
• Lü Zhong reported that Bai Yang might be found in his home county, where Lü Zhong was investigating the woman’s family ties.
• Lü Yue continued working to capture and question Sun Chuanxing’s men without alerting him, with Sun Chuanshan secretly assisting.

Lu Shun reported that Meng Zhao refused Meng Xi’s demand for the Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass businesses, prompting Meng Xi to order their destruction. Lu Shun warned him that Meng Zhao was a formidable opponent and urged him to back down.

• Lu Shun arrived at the North Garden, where Meng Xi was enjoying a commissioned opera about a son advancing his family’s fortunes.
• Lu Shun dismissed the troupe and guards, then reported that Meng Zhao had refused to surrender the two businesses, even saying Meng Jizu could not change his decision.
• Meng Xi reacted with fury, tearing out the cat’s fur and smashing a tea table with his inner power.
• Meng Xi ordered Lu Shun to have their people destroy the Red Leaf Mountain and Wolfsbane Grass businesses.
• Lu Shun unusually defied Meng Xi’s impulse and warned him not to provoke Meng Zhao, whom he judged proud, calculating, and difficult to overcome.

Meng Xi considered retaliating against Meng Zhao, but Lu Shun urged him to win Meng Zhao over rather than push him toward Meng Wen. After reconsidering the family’s succession contest, Meng Xi proposed recommending Meng Zhao for the Meng Family’s Martial Arts Arena contest with the Sun Family.

• Meng Xi threatened to punish Meng Zhao by interfering with his Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass businesses, but Lu Shun warned that this could drive him to Meng Wen’s side.
• Lu Shun reminded Meng Xi that Meng Jizu would judge the brothers by their abilities and that hostility toward Meng Zhao could damage Meng Xi’s standing as heir.
• Meng Xi calmed down and asked whether Meng Jizu and Meng Hongdao would soon return to the residence.
• Meng Xi asked Lu Shun what he thought of recommending Meng Zhao for the Meng Family’s Martial Arts Arena contest with the Sun Family.

Meng Xi schemed to put Meng Zhao into the Meng and Sun families’ three-bout contest, hoping a defeat would damage Meng Zhao and drive a wedge between him and Meng Wen. He remained confident that the Mengs would win, but said he would respect and recruit Meng Zhao if he proved victorious.

• Meng Xi proposed Meng Zhao as a contestant, and Lu Shun warned that Meng Jizu would likely oppose the idea.
• Meng Xi explained that Meng Wen could be made unable to compete and Meng Yan was absent, leaving their father little choice but to send Meng Zhao.
• Meng Xi intended Meng Zhao’s defeat to humiliate him and make him resent Meng Wen, while concealing Meng Xi’s role.
• Lu Shun warned that losing the contest could cost the Meng Family its mine and weaken its standing against the Sun Family.
• Meng Xi boasted that he and Meng Chuan could defeat the Sun Family, then said he would recruit Meng Zhao if Meng Zhao won.

Sun Chuanshan’s men set an ambush for a jade convoy, unaware that Lü Yue and Meng Mansion experts were using the shipment as bait. Lü Yue recognized the ambush leader as the man who had attacked Meng Zhao, and the two faced off as the battle began.

• Two Sun Family martial artists discussed their orders from Sun Chuanshan and the losses they had suffered in an earlier ambush.
• The ambushers prepared to seize a convoy carrying illicit jade artifacts from Nan'an Commandery to Tong County.
• Lü Yue led disguised Meng Mansion experts into the ruined temple, where they pretended to be unprepared for an attack.
• The Sun Family men sprang from hiding, but Lü Yue’s force counterattacked with overwhelming strength.
• Lü Yue recognized the burly leader as the Great Strength Eagle Claw Hand expert who had attacked Meng Zhao, and fixed his attention on him.

Lü Yue and the Meng Family’s experts ambushed the Sun Residence fighters, and Lü Yue defeated the Eagle Claw Master after uncovering the trap. The entire group was captured, leaving the Meng Family to question them about the Earth Spirit Pearl.

• Lü Yue recognized that the supposed illicit-jade convoy was a trap laid by the Meng Family, and the Eagle Claw Master realized he had been lured into a fight.
• Lü Yue and the Eagle Claw Master exchanged powerful close-range attacks, but Lü Yue’s Formless Primordial Unity Skill disrupted his opponent’s Internal Energy and gave him the advantage.
• Wang Tao defeated his opponents while watching Lü Yue’s battle and praised the young steward’s martial arts.
• After thirty moves, Lü Yue gained control of the fight and avoided the Eagle Claw Master’s desperate killing blow before striking him down from behind.
• The Meng Family’s experts defeated and captured every Sun Residence fighter, securing a complete victory.

Lü Yue captured the Sun Family martial artists who had attacked Meng Zhao and waited for him to decide their fate. Meng Zhao arrived, praised Lü Yue, and confronted the captured Eagle Claw Master, whom he recognized as the man who had tried to seize him.

• After defeating the Eagle Claw Master, Lü Yue ordered the Sun Family martial artists bound and made to kneel in the ruined temple while the Meng Family experts kept watch.
• Meng Zhao arrived and praised Lü Yue for capturing every attacker, promising to tell Uncle Zhong about his success.
• Lü Yue told Meng Zhao that he had also captured the expert who injured him, then led him into the temple's rear hall.
• Meng Zhao saw the captives kneeling and ordered their masks removed, making them fear he would not spare them.
• Meng Zhao recognized the calm, hawk-nosed Eagle Claw Master as the man who had tried to capture him.

Meng Zhao executed one of the captured Sun Family men, then forced the hawk-nosed leader to reveal the details of the raid on his manor. The account confirmed that Bai Yang had burned the Medicine Field and taken the Earth Spirit Pearl, while Meng Zhao left the captives’ fate to Lü Yue for further interrogation.

• Meng Zhao dismissed the hawk-nosed man’s threat of conflict between the Sun and Meng Families and killed one of the kneeling captives.
• Meng Zhao offered the remaining men a choice between death and life, and the hawk-nosed man asked what Meng Zhao wanted from them.
• Meng Zhao sent away the other Meng Family experts and demanded the full story of the manor raid, the Medicine Field fire, and Bai Yang’s involvement.
• The hawk-nosed man explained that Bai Yang had burned the Medicine Field, staged his own death, and left with the Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Meng Zhao told Lü Yue to interrogate the captives separately, gather more information about the Sun Family, and cover up the incident.