Chapter Summaries

Kuang Tianyou explained why the Kuang Family had chosen to support the Ninth Prince in hopes of escaping exile, but Meng Zhao refused to join them. Meng Zhao instead proposed a separate partnership with the Kuang Family, which Kuang Tianyou readily accepted.

• Kuang Tianyou described the Kuang Family’s hopes of leaving Jianan Pass and restoring their status, despite the risks of backing the Ninth Prince.
• Kuang Tianyou admitted that the Kuang Family was divided over the plan and asked whether Meng Zhao would support the Ninth Prince.
• Meng Zhao declined to enter court or join the Ninth Prince, advising Kuang Tianyou to wait until the political situation became clearer.
• Kuang Tianyou offered Meng Zhao tribute wine each year, and Meng Zhao accepted while suggesting they could still become friends and cooperate.
• Meng Zhao proposed drawing on his wealth and resources to build an undertaking with the Kuang Family, and Kuang Tianyou agreed.

Meng Zhao strengthened his ties with Kuang Tianyou and secured the submission of Elder Qian Jiao’s imprisoned disciple. After Meng Jizu and Meng Hongdao returned, they praised Meng Zhao for capturing and raising the young Flood Dragon, then hinted that the Meng Family had a reward in mind.

• Meng Zhao and Kuang Tianyou agreed that Meng Zhao could hire Jianan Pass fighters at favorable rates.
• Elder Qian Jiao’s imprisoned disciple gave in to the harsh punishments and agreed to submit, so Meng Zhao planted safeguards to keep him under control.
• Meng Jizu and Meng Hongdao returned to the Meng Family two days later and summoned Meng Zhao to Meng Jizu’s study.
• Meng Zhao summoned Little Nine, and Meng Jizu recognized the young Flood Dragon’s exceptional potential and praised Meng Zhao’s cultivation efforts.
• Meng Hongdao and Meng Jizu told Meng Zhao to accept the credit for his role in capturing the Flood Dragon and hinted at a future reward, but Meng Zhao continued to credit the others.

Meng Zhao defended his decision to recruit the Seven Freaks of Minshan, arguing that they could strengthen the Meng Family against the Lei Family. Meng Jizu accepted his reasoning and asked how Meng Zhao had won Min Shan Eldest Sister and the others over.

• Meng Jizu warned Meng Zhao to care for the young flood dragon, then confronted him about taking in the Seven Freaks of Minshan.
• Meng Zhao admitted recruiting the Seven Freaks and argued that the Meng Family’s true enemy was the Lei Family, which had used the Seven Freaks as tools.
• Meng Hongdao supported Meng Zhao, and Meng Jizu praised Min Shan Eldest Sister’s Green Emperor Wood Emperor Saber and its potential to lead her toward becoming a Grandmaster.
• Meng Jizu stopped pursuing the recruitment and asked how Meng Zhao had met Min Shan Eldest Sister and persuaded the Seven Freaks to join the Meng Family.

Meng Zhao explained how he won the Seven Freaks of Minshan to his side and secured Meng Jizu’s support in using them. He then confirmed that he still intended to leave the Meng estate and build a career of his own, asking his uncles to support him.

• Meng Zhao told Meng Jizu and Meng Hongdao that he had won Min Shan Eldest Sister’s favor and persuaded the Seven Freaks to join him.
• Meng Zhao assured his uncles that Mu Qing’s influence over the Seven Freaks would help him keep the group under control.
• Meng Jizu cautioned Meng Zhao to treat the Seven Freaks sincerely and reminded him that the Meng Family would back him.
• Meng Hongdao asked whether Meng Zhao still wanted to leave the Meng Family, and Meng Zhao confirmed his plan to establish his own branch with the Seven Freaks as his helpers.

Meng Zhao explained why he needed to leave Meng Mansion and chose to build his own power in Lingwu City. Meng Jizu agreed to support him, though the city’s tangled forces and limited Meng Family influence made his plan risky.

• Meng Jizu warned Meng Zhao that leaving the family estate could expose him to failure and destroy his confidence, but Meng Zhao said he was willing to try.
• Meng Zhao decided to leave because his uncertain identity could turn the Meng Family from a refuge into a prison if the hidden conspiracy was exposed.
• Meng Jizu stopped Meng Hongdao from further persuading Meng Zhao and asked whether he planned to enter the Imperial Court or the Jianghu Martial Arts World.
• Meng Zhao chose Lingwu City, explaining that its disorder offered opportunities and could help the Meng Family expand beyond Ji Prefecture.
• Meng Jizu agreed to give Meng Zhao the Meng Family’s greatest support as he pursued his plan.

Meng Zhao received men, wealth, military training methods, and an honorary rank from the Meng Family as he prepared to establish himself in Lingwu City. After sending two groups ahead to take control of the family’s gifts, he left with the main force in early July.

• Meng Jizu and Meng Hongdao gave Meng Zhao the Meng Family’s Lingwu City assets, five Innate Masters, Meteor assassins, rare treasures, and the Vermilion Bird Divine Army manual.
• Meng Jizu and Meng Hongdao secured Meng Zhao an honorary Acting Principal Sixth Rank Xuanjie Colonel appointment.
• After Meng Jizu returned to Ye City at the end of May, Meng Zhao assisted Meng Hongdao and learned from him.
• At the beginning of June, Meng Zhao sent Bai Shicheng and Han Pu with elite men to Lingwu City to take possession of the assets and gather intelligence.
• In mid-June, Meng Zhao dispatched a second group with supplies and Innate Masters to Lingwu City.
• In early July, Meng Zhao bid Meng Hongdao farewell and departed for Lingwu City with the main force.

Meng Zhao used the Sky-Illuminating Mirror to create a vast collection of martial arts manuals, strengthening his foundation and preparing to recruit gifted fighters. He had nearly reached the Innate Realm but held back, fearing that awakening his Purple Origin Dragon Body and Ziwei Star Destiny would make the Beitang Imperial Clan view him as a threat.

• Meng Zhao completed the West Pole White Tiger Golden Jade Sword Scripture, an Innate sword art deduced from two existing martial arts.
• Meng Zhao reflected on the roughly thirty martial arts he had deduced and fused, including two Grandmaster-level manuals that he could use to attract followers.
• Meng Zhao continued suppressing his cultivation despite being strong enough to enter the Innate Realm, seeking to temper his foundation and preserve his potential.
• Meng Zhao worried that awakening his Purple Origin Dragon Body would reveal his Ziwei Star Destiny and draw hostility from the Beitang Imperial Clan amid growing unrest across Great Yong.

Meng Zhao meditated in his carriage, using the image of a true dragon to transform his body, while Yu Huashen searched villages for people with special physiques and Ziwei Star Destiny. Yu Huashen discovered a boy with a wood-based physique but no sign of Ziwei, and announced that he would take the child to Imperial Capital City for training.

• Meng Zhao set aside his writing and meditated in the carriage, visualizing a true dragon as his blood, bones, meridians, and muscles began to transform.
• Yu Huashen and his black-armored soldiers gathered the villagers of New Origin Village and tested them with his overwhelming blood-and-qi aura.
• A sturdy boy endured the heat and awakened an ancient tree-like aura, with green patterns spreading across his face and flowers blooming around him.
• Yu Huashen identified the boy as likely possessing a Spiritual Wood Physique or Azure Wood Physique, but said he was not illuminated by Ziwei.
• Yu Huashen told the village elder that he would take the boy to Imperial Capital City to train him in martial arts.

Yu Huashen sensed an extraordinary bloodline and raced toward it, while Meng Zhao’s meditation with Little Nine was interrupted by an approaching powerhouse. The giant armored stranger landed in front of Meng Zhao’s convoy, leaving Liang Muqiu warning that he was stronger than Meng Zhao’s eldest uncle.

• Yu Huashen agreed to persuade San Gouzi’s family to let the boy train with him, then sensed a powerful bloodline and flew toward it.
• Meng Zhao and Little Nine merged their auras as they cultivated, strengthening Meng Zhao’s True Dragon Diagram and refining Little Nine’s bloodline.
• Meng Zhao felt a warning of danger, burned the martial art he had written down, and ordered Lü Yue to stop the carriage.
• Liang Muqiu joined Meng Zhao and warned that the approaching stranger was beyond her strength and might be stronger than Meng Zhao’s eldest uncle.
• A three-meter-tall man in golden battle armor descended in front of the convoy, smashing a wide pit into the road.

Yu Huashen confronted Meng Zhao’s caravan and tested him with his blood-and-qi aura, while Meng Zhao ordered his companions not to attack. The test revealed that Liang Muqiu, Lü Yue, Cao Zhan, and Zhou Hu all possessed Special Physiques, leaving Yu Huashen stunned.

• Eight Innate Masters, including the Seven Freaks of Minshan and Cang Shu Yun’s retainers, gathered to protect Meng Zhao from Yu Huashen.
• Yu Huashen studied Meng Zhao’s unusual appearance and powerful foundation, doubting that he had a Ziwei Star Destiny but deciding to test him anyway.
• Meng Zhao told his companions to stay calm and not act rashly as Yu Huashen released his fierce aura toward them.
• Liang Muqiu manifested an Ice Lotus, while Lü Yue, Cao Zhan, and Zhou Hu revealed starlight and beastlike phantoms.
• Yu Huashen recognized that all four companions had Special Physiques and was stunned by the discovery.

Meng Zhao concealed his Ziwei Star Power while revealing his Purple True Dragon Body to mislead Yu Huashen, who was searching for people with Special Physiques. The chapter ended with Meng Zhao gambling that his Dragon Body would make Yu Huashen believe he had no connection to the Ziwei Star.

• Meng Zhao remembered Empress Dou’s extraordinary descendants and wondered what powerful children he and Liang Muqiu might have together.
• Yu Huashen identified Lü Yue, Cao Zhan, and Zhou Hu as potential Star Physiques and grew suspicious of Meng Zhao’s unusual gathering of companions.
• Meng Zhao used the Sky-Illuminating Mirror to hide his Ziwei Star Power and the Dragon Locking Skill to suppress his Purple Dragon Body.
• When Yu Huashen’s killing intent revealed that Meng Zhao’s lack of visible abnormalities was suspicious, Meng Zhao released the Dragon Locking Skill while keeping his Ziwei Star Power concealed.
• Meng Zhao manifested his Purple True Dragon, overwhelming the onlookers with its spiritual pressure and hoping Yu Huashen would mistake him for someone with only a Dragon Body.

Meng Zhao revealed his Dragon Body to dispel Yu Huashen’s suspicion that he possessed Ziwei Star Destiny, and Yu Huashen abandoned his intent to kill him. Meng Zhao calmly met the Imperial Guard commander, who asked how he was related to the Earl of Nan'an.

• Yu Huashen recognized Meng Zhao’s Dragon Body and ruled out the possibility that he was blessed by Ziwei Star Destiny, replacing his killing intent with admiration for the five geniuses’ potential.
• Yu Huashen identified himself as Commander-in-Chief of Great Yong’s Imperial Guard and demanded to speak with the person in charge.
• Meng Zhao reassured Lü Yue, instructed him to keep the convoy at rest, and went to meet Yu Huashen with Liang Muqiu.
• Meng Zhao greeted Yu Huashen humbly while making clear that he belonged to the Earl of Nan'an’s lineage.
• Yu Huashen asked what relation the Earl of Nan'an was to him, and Meng Zhao replied that the Earl was his blood uncle.

Yu Huashen recognized Meng Zhao as a Heavenly Gang Guard and discovered that he and his companions had rare physiques, then tried to recruit them into imperial service. Meng Zhao and Liang Muqiu refused, leaving Yu Huashen displeased.

• Yu Huashen examined Meng Zhao's Heavenly Injury Star Token and confirmed his identity as a Heavenly Gang Guard.
• Yu Huashen explained that his secret art had revealed the extraordinary physiques of Meng Zhao, Liang Muqiu, Lü Yue, and the others.
• Yu Huashen offered to recommend Meng Zhao and his companions for cultivation in the Inner Guard Army, but Meng Zhao declined, citing his duties in Lingwu City and his post in the Jizhou Army.
• Yu Huashen became displeased with Meng Zhao's refusal and offered Liang Muqiu a chance to enter the palace and contend for a place among the Nine Consorts.
• Liang Muqiu refused the offer, saying she had chosen to follow Meng Zhao and protect him.

Meng Zhao refused Yu Huashen’s attempt to take Lü Yue, Zhou Hu, and Cao Zhan, offering instead to let them decide for themselves. Yu Huashen revealed his interest in the Ziwei Star Destiny, demonstrated his overwhelming strength, and warned Meng Zhao against rebellion; Meng Zhao pledged loyalty to Great Yong.

• Yu Huashen told Meng Zhao that the three Star Bodies might gather around the bearer of the Ziwei Star Destiny and demanded that Meng Zhao hand them over for training.
• Meng Zhao realized Yu Huashen was searching for the Ziwei Star Destiny and proposed summoning the three men so they could choose whether to follow the commander.
• Liang Muqiu returned to the convoy on a Saber Light, and Yu Huashen crushed the lingering saber qi without being injured.
• Yu Huashen warned Meng Zhao not to become a traitor or rebel, and Meng Zhao formally swore loyalty to the Emperor and Great Yong.

Yu Huashen offered Lü Yue, Cao Zhan, and Zhou Hu positions in the Imperial Guard and cultivation under the Great Emperor, but all three chose to remain with Meng Zhao. Yu Huashen left in disappointment, while Meng Zhao was relieved that none of his companions had been taken away.

• Yu Huashen praised Meng Zhao and examined Lü Yue, Cao Zhan, and Zhou Hu, recognizing their Star Bodies and potential.
• Yu Huashen offered the three men places in the Imperial Guard and the chance to cultivate in Jade Capital.
• Meng Zhao told his companions he would not stop them from accepting the offer, and Lü Yue tearfully reaffirmed his loyalty to Meng Zhao.
• Zhou Hu refused Yu Huashen's offer, saying he would not betray the man who had saved and taken him in.
• Cao Zhan also chose to stay with Meng Zhao, and Yu Huashen departed in anger and disappointment.

Meng Zhao explained that Lü Yue, Zhou Hu, and Cao Zhan had the potential for Special Physiques, though they could not awaken their bloodlines before reaching the Innate realm. After reassuring them and praising Cao Zhan for choosing to stay, Meng Zhao sent the three back to prepare the caravan to depart, leaving him alone with Liang Muqiu.

• Lü Yue asked Meng Zhao what it meant that he, Zhou Hu, and Cao Zhan had star fate and potential for Special Physiques.
• Meng Zhao explained that Yu Huashen's secret technique had stirred their qi and blood, but only those who reached the Innate realm could fully awaken their bloodlines.
• Zhou Hu pledged to cultivate diligently and serve Meng Zhao, while Cao Zhan weighed the opportunity to join Yu Huashen against his decision to remain with Meng Zhao.
• Meng Zhao reassured Cao Zhan that he would not regret staying and promised that his choice had earned Meng Zhao's approval.
• Meng Zhao ordered Lü Yue, Zhou Hu, and Cao Zhan to return to the caravan and prepare to depart, leaving him with Liang Muqiu.

Liang Muqiu warned Meng Zhao that his Star Physique followers might be tied to the Ziwei Physique and that Yu Huashen could be using him to oppose its bearer. Meng Zhao dismissed her fears with confidence and flirted about their future children, while Liang Muqiu resolved to watch over his followers.

• Liang Muqiu teased Meng Zhao about his intimate behavior with Han Lu and Zhu'er, and he guessed that she was jealous.
• Liang Muqiu warned Meng Zhao that Lü Yue and two other confidants had Star Physiques and might eventually betray him or be drawn into conflict with the Ziwei Physique.
• Liang Muqiu theorized that Yu Huashen had gathered the star-bearers under Meng Zhao to pit his True Dragon Physique against Ziwei for the Beitang Imperial Clan's benefit.
• Meng Zhao said he knew of Yu Huashen's scheme and claimed his True Dragon Physique could contend with Ziwei, then joked about marrying Liang Muqiu and having powerful children.
• Liang Muqiu blushed at Meng Zhao's teasing and privately resolved to keep a close eye on Lü Yue and the others.

Meng Zhao followed a Thunderclap Bomb signal into a secluded valley, where a young Daoist attacked him. Meng Zhao killed the attacker and prepared to face whoever was waiting deeper in the valley.

• Meng Zhao recognized the fireworks as a Thunderclap Bomb signal and ordered Zhou Hu, Cao Zhan, and Lü Yue to lead the caravan onward while he went to investigate with four experts.
• Meng Zhao and his companions reached the valley and followed the path toward the source of the signal.
• Two sinister-looking Daoists confronted Meng Zhao, and the younger one attacked him with his sword.
• Meng Zhao shattered the sword with Crimson Dragon Force, seized the young Daoist, and crushed his throat.

Meng Zhao killed one of Qian Jiao’s disciples and ordered the survivor to lead him to Qian Jiao and Yao Shun. He arrived at Qian Jiao’s stronghold, where he found Yao Shun tortured and disfigured, and faced the Ninth Elder himself.

• Meng Zhao killed one of the two men who confronted him and ordered the survivor to take him to Qian Jiao and Yao Shun.
• Liang Muqiu warned Meng Zhao that killing Qian Jiao’s disciple could damage their plans, but Meng Zhao said he intended to use intimidation and told her to guard him.
• The surviving disciple led Meng Zhao and his companions into a dark valley guarded by armed martial artists.
• Meng Zhao recognized the tortured figure tied to a tree as Yao Shun and identified Mu Ge among the guards.
• Meng Zhao saw Qian Jiao in a pavilion, whipping and cursing Yao Shun.

Meng Zhao confronted Qian Jiao at Sombre Valley, where both men tested each other while concealing their intentions. Qian Jiao agreed to let Meng Zhao bring one companion into the pavilion, leaving the meeting poised to begin.

• Qian Jiao demanded to know where Li Qing was, and Meng Zhao said he had killed Li Qing for showing him disrespect.
• Qian Jiao killed the disciple who tried to complain, then killed the bound Yao Shun with his whip.
• Meng Zhao and Qian Jiao exchanged polite words, each masking his calculations as they discussed Yao Shun's death.
• When Mu Ge asked Meng Zhao to enter the pavilion alone, Meng Zhao insisted on bringing one companion and leaving three behind.
• Qian Jiao accepted Meng Zhao's terms and told Mu Ge to let him choose one companion.