Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao learned that Shi Jie was recovering in Sun Chuanshan's residence while the search for him faded, and he continued preparing for Lü Zhong's uncertain arrival. After Shi Jie criticized Meng Zhao's martial arts despite his strength, Meng Zhao asked him for guidance.

• The commandery government withdrew its troops from the checkpoints after failing to find Shi Jie, while its wanted notice concealed Shi Jie's identity.
• Shi Jie recovered in Sun Chuanshan's courtyard, where Meng Zhao kept him restrained and planned to remove the restrictions by the end of the month.
• Meng Zhao continued monitoring the Meng family, supported Meng Chuan's intense training, and sent more groups to receive Lü Zhong.
• Meng Zhao sparred with Lü Yue as Shi Jie watched and assessed their martial arts.
• Shi Jie told Meng Zhao that his apparent strength came from sparring rather than fighting to the death, and Meng Zhao asked him to give guidance.

Shi Jie explained that Meng Zhao’s polished techniques and powerful cultivation were undermined by his lack of battle experience and a martial dao built on imitation rather than spirit. Meng Zhao realized the Sky-Illuminating Mirror and his rapid gains might have left hidden flaws in his foundation, but Shi Jie said he would have to find the solution through martial dao himself.

• Shi Jie divided an Acquired martial artist’s strength into martial arts, cultivation, combat experience, and external aids, then said Meng Zhao’s weakest area was combat experience.
• Shi Jie compared Meng Zhao’s sheltered training with Shen Tianci’s talent and hard-won experience, and said Meng Zhao could improve through life-and-death trials.
• Shi Jie warned that Meng Zhao’s martial dao lacked spirit and relied on artificial craftsmanship, potentially making Acquired Perfection his limit and Innate Martial Dao unreachable.
• Meng Zhao connected Shi Jie’s criticism to his rapid gains through the Sky-Illuminating Mirror and suspected that his strength rested on an incomplete foundation.
• Meng Zhao asked how to fix the problem, but Shi Jie said Meng Zhao had to discover the answer himself through martial dao.

After reflecting on Shi Jie’s advice and the life of Ruan Ying, Meng Zhao concluded that martial artists could become slaves to power they had gained too easily, and he began an intense regimen to test his insight. Lü Yue worried about Meng Zhao’s health, but Shi Jie praised his zeal, leaving Lü Yue waiting for another chance to intervene.

• Meng Zhao researched biographies and drew inspiration from Ruan Ying’s rise, stagnation, and ascetic retreat.
• Meng Zhao concluded that some martial artists were controlled by their martial arts rather than mastering them, and he resolved to test a solution through practice.
• Meng Zhao immersed himself in books, neglected meals and sleep, and trained from morning until night, worrying Lü Yue.
• Lü Yue asked Meng Chuan to persuade Meng Zhao, but Meng Chuan instead matched his intense training.
• Lü Yue sought Shi Jie’s help, but Shi Jie praised Meng Zhao’s fervor and encouraged him, leaving Lü Yue frustrated.

Meng Zhao learned that Bai Yang had been found but was being protected by Hu Yingming, who had injured Lü Zhong while resisting a secret capture. Meng Zhao weighed the danger of confronting Hu Baiwan’s powerful connections against the Meng Family’s need to recover the Earth Spirit Pearl and defend its standing, leaving the response undecided.

• Lü Yue told Meng Zhao that Bai Yang had been found and was under Hu Yingming’s protection.
• Lü Yue reported that Lü Zhong had been injured three days earlier while trying to seize Bai Yang secretly.
• Meng Zhao learned that Hu Yingming was the second son of Hu Baiwan, a wealthy merchant leader with powerful allies, including rumored ties to Li Xiaotian.
• Meng Zhao considered the risk of provoking Hu Baiwan and the Sun Family against the need to recover the Earth Spirit Pearl and uphold the Meng Family’s reputation.

After Lü Zhong was injured, Meng Zhao promised Lü Yue that he would retaliate and gave him a hundred-year blood ginseng for Lü Zhong’s recovery. Before dawn, Meng Zhao visited Liu Qiankun, a powerful Meng Family steward and an old friend of Meng Zhengan, leaving his request for support to follow.

• Meng Zhao calmed Lü Yue and reassured him that Hu Yingming would face retaliation for Lü Zhong’s injury.
• Meng Zhao offered Lü Yue a hundred-year blood ginseng from the manor treasury for Lü Zhong to recuperate.
• Before dawn, Meng Zhao prepared a lavish gift and went to visit Liu Qiankun.
• Meng Zhao greeted Liu Qiankun respectfully and presented the gift, while Liu Qiankun welcomed him warmly.

Meng Zhao sought Liu Qiankun’s advice about Bai Yang stealing the Earth Spirit Pearl and taking refuge with Hu Yingming, whose men had injured Lü Zhong. Liu Qiankun explained how to act without provoking Hu Baiwan and urged Meng Zhao to solve the problem himself, promising to intervene if necessary.

• Meng Zhao told Liu Qiankun that Bai Yang had stolen the Earth Spirit Pearl, fled to Hu Yingming, and left Lü Zhong injured.
• Liu Qiankun warned Meng Zhao that the Meng Family could not openly offend Hu Baiwan because of the looming Martial Arts Arena dispute.
• Lü Yue protested that they could not let Lü Zhong’s injury and the theft go unanswered.
• Liu Qiankun said Meng Zhao could reclaim Bai Yang and the pearl so long as he did not kill Hu Yingming, but any revenge for Lü Zhong had to remain secret.
• Liu Qiankun urged Meng Zhao to treat the matter as a trial and promised to step in if Meng Zhao failed.
• Meng Zhao considered Liu Qiankun’s advice to overcome strength with strategy and wondered whether Liu was testing him.

Meng Zhao arrived in Xinping County with Lü Yue, Shi Jie, and several experts to take Bai Yang and the Earth Spirit Pearl from Hu Yingming. After reassuring the injured Lü Zhong and revealing that an Innate Master had joined them, Meng Zhao left Lü Zhong to realize that the mysterious fourth person in the room was their powerful ally.

• Meng Zhao and his disguised companions entered Xinping County and waited in a secluded inn for Lü Zhong.
• Lü Zhong arrived, apologized for failing to capture Bai Yang, and warned Meng Zhao not to provoke Hu Yingming and Hu Baiwan.
• Meng Zhao comforted Lü Zhong with a century-old blood ginseng and explained that Liu Qiankun had advised him to handle the matter himself.
• Lü Zhong agreed to support Meng Zhao after learning Liu Qiankun would intervene if their attempt failed.
• Meng Zhao said he had brought an Innate Master, and Lü Zhong understood that the silent Shi Jie was the fourth person in the room.

Meng Zhao informed Lü Zhong about Shi Jie and planned to capture Bai Yang while Lü Zhong distracted Hu Yingming. Meanwhile, Lü Yue visited the isolated Zhang Family, whose wary gatekeeper went to announce him.

• Meng Zhao told Lü Zhong about Shi Jie and asked for his information on Bai Yang while directing him to keep Hu Yingming occupied.
• Lü Zhong warned that Hu Yingming protected Bai Yang because of the Earth Spirit Pearl, but Meng Zhao insisted on capturing Bai Yang regardless.
• Lü Zhong gave Meng Zhao his gathered information and left the inn unseen, while Shi Jie offered to help and Meng Zhao said he preferred not to expose him.
• Lü Yue arrived at the Zhang Family home with a gift and asked the gatekeeper to announce his visit.
• The Zhang Family's suspicious gatekeeper took pity on Lü Yue's account of being shunned and went to ask his master to receive him.

Lü Yue confronted Zhang Da Niu’s family to confirm the history that connected Zhang Xiao Cui to Bai Yang. He learned that Zhang Xiao Cui had sold herself to pay for her brother’s treatment, setting up her later meeting with Bai Yang.

• Lü Yue entered the Zhang Residence and met Zhang Da Niu, Zhang Wang Shi, and their sickly son Zhang Xiao Tie.
• Lü Yue restrained Zhang Da Niu and knocked Zhang Wang Shi and Zhang Xiao Tie unconscious, then threatened Zhang Da Niu to make him answer questions.
• Zhang Da Niu confirmed that Zhang Xiao Cui had sold herself into a brothel to fund Zhang Xiao Tie’s treatment.
• Lü Yue recognized Zhang Xiao Cui as Yu Nong, Bai Yang’s lover, whose identity had led Lü Zhong to the Zhang family.

Lü Yue threatened Zhang Da Niu into helping Meng Zhao exploit Bai Yang’s attachment to his wife and child. Zhang Da Niu agreed to invite Zhang Xiao Cui, her son, and her husband home for a meal, leaving them as bait for Meng Zhao’s plan.

• Lü Yue questioned Zhang Da Niu and learned that Zhang Xiao Cui had returned to Xinping County with her child and husband.
• Lü Yue recalled that Meng Zhao had tasked him with using Bai Yang’s wife and child as leverage because Bai Yang’s protectors made a direct confrontation difficult.
• Lü Yue offered Zhang Da Niu five hundred taels and threatened his family unless he helped.
• Lü Yue told Zhang Da Niu to invite Zhang Xiao Cui, her child, and her husband home for a family meal.
• Zhang Da Niu accepted, reassured by Lü Yue’s claim that Zhang Xiao Cui would not be harmed.

Bai Yang and Zhang Xiao Cui traveled with their young son to visit her family, despite Bai Yang’s fears that Lü Zhong might find them. As they neared Zhang Residence, they remained unaware that Meng Zhao had prepared a trap for them.

• Zhang Da Niu told Meng Zhao that Zhang Xiao Cui had agreed to bring her husband and child home, and Meng Zhao’s men turned Zhang Residence into a guarded trap.
• Zhang Xiao Cui teased Bai Yang for worrying about Lü Zhong as their carriage carried the family toward her parents’ home.
• Bai Yang worried that Lü Zhong could expose their hiding place and endanger Zhang Xiao Cui’s family, but she dismissed his fears and explained how much she missed her parents.
• Bai Yang comforted his awakened son and reflected on how losing the Earth Spirit Pearl had forced him to seek Hu Yingming’s protection.
• Bai Yang and Zhang Xiao Cui chatted affectionately in the carriage as they unknowingly approached the danger awaiting them.

Bai Yang and Zhang Xiao Cui arrived at Zhang Residence and discovered Meng Zhao had set a trap for Bai Yang. After Lü Yue defeated Bai Yang, Zhang Xiao Cui refused to leave him and vowed that their family would face whatever came together.

• Bai Yang and Zhang Xiao Cui arrived at Zhang Residence, where a young gatekeeper led them to a reception room full of silent visitors.
• Bai Yang sensed danger, and the gatekeeper revealed that Bai Yang had arrived to meet his former master.
• Bai Yang recognized Meng Zhao's trap and attacked Lü Yue, but Lü Yue kicked him into the reception room and wounded him.
• Zhang Xiao Cui rushed to Bai Yang with their crying child, then soothed the child when Lü Yue threatened her.
• Meng Zhao ordered Zhang Xiao Cui and the child taken to the inner residence, but Zhang Xiao Cui refused to leave Bai Yang and declared that their family would stay together.

Meng Zhao confronted Bai Yang over his crimes and the stolen Earth Spirit Pearl, then broke Bai Yang’s defiance by threatening Zhang Xiao Cui and their son. Bai Yang fell silent, fearing for his family as Meng Zhao gained control of the confrontation.

• Zhang Xiao Cui insisted on staying with Bai Yang, and Meng Zhao allowed her to remain.
• Bai Yang admitted he had acted alone in the attack on the manor and the theft of the Earth Spirit Pearl, and warned that he served Hu Yingming.
• Meng Zhao dismissed Bai Yang’s threat and questioned him about giving the Earth Spirit Pearl to Hu Yingming.
• Meng Zhao threatened to make Zhang Xiao Cui suffer and harm Bai Yang’s son after Bai Yang’s death.
• Bai Yang stopped resisting verbally and feared that Meng Zhao would carry out the threats against his family.

Meng Zhao coerced Bai Yang into helping recover the Earth Spirit Pearl from Hu Yingming, promising to protect Zhang Xiao Cui and their child. As Bai Yang prepared to accept the dangerous task, Meng Zhao remained uncertain whether he could truly spare the child after Bai Yang’s death.

• Meng Zhao threatened Bai Yang and offered to spare his wife and child if Bai Yang helped him retrieve the Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Bai Yang initially refused, saying he could not get the Pearl from Hu Yingming, and Meng Zhao angrily accused him of stealing it from the Meng Family.
• Bai Yang agreed to try, asking Meng Zhao to help Zhang Xiao Cui and their child leave Ji Prefecture safely if he succeeded.
• Meng Zhao promised to protect them and required Bai Yang to return the Earth Spirit Pearl intact.
• Meng Zhao considered whether to eliminate Bai Yang’s child as a future threat, but he was unsure he could harm the innocent toddler.

Meng Zhao worried that Bai Yang might betray him and struggled to decide whether to spare Bai Yang’s young child, while Shi Jie challenged his hesitation. A messenger returned with the Earth Spirit Pearl, but Lü Yue remained behind with Lü Zhong to face Hu Yingming.

• Shi Jie questioned Meng Zhao’s plan for the Zhang Family and Bai Yang’s wife and child, then condemned him for considering sparing only the child.
• Meng Zhao reached a decision just as a soaked messenger arrived and reported that the plan to obtain the Earth Spirit Pearl had succeeded, though something had gone wrong for Lü Yue.
• The messenger explained that Bai Yang had taken the Earth Spirit Pearl from Hu Yingming and passed it to Lü Yue, while Lü Zhong distracted Hu Yingming.
• Lü Yue stayed with Lü Zhong to protect him as the messenger carried the Earth Spirit Pearl back to Meng Zhao.
• Shi Jie identified the pearl as a wood-aspected Earth Spirit Pearl suited to Meng Zhao’s Red Flag Order cultivation.

Meng Zhao absorbed the energy from the Wood Element Earth Spirit Pearl and prepared to confront Hu Yingming to help Lü Zhong and Lü Yue escape. He gave Shi Jie the antidote, freeing the powerful Innate Master, who immediately demonstrated his strength and overpowered Meng Zhao.

• Meng Zhao absorbed 10,000 energy points from the Earth Spirit Pearl, bringing the Sky-Illuminating Mirror’s total to 12,000.
• Meng Zhao learned that Lü Zhong and Lü Yue were still trapped at Hu Yingming’s residence and decided he might have to face Hu Yingming himself.
• Meng Zhao asked Shi Jie to accompany him, and Shi Jie urged him to hurry while pressing him for the antidote.
• Meng Zhao gave Shi Jie a sealed bottle containing the two antidote pills, and Shi Jie swallowed them to break free of his restraints.
• Shi Jie’s strength returned as he displayed the six-tusked White Elephant formed from Heaven and Earth Vital Energy.
• Shi Jie pressed a palm onto Meng Zhao’s shoulder, suppressing his Red Flag internal force.

Meng Zhao persuaded Shi Jie not to kill him and brought him to Hu Yingming’s estate to rescue Lü Zhong and Lü Yue. After Meng Zhao forced his way inside, Hu Yingming welcomed the news of his arrival, while Lü Zhong and Lü Yue worried about why he had come.

• Meng Zhao reasoned that Shi Jie needed an ally and convinced him to release him rather than kill him.
• Shi Jie warned that his injuries and the need to conceal his identity would limit his strength, then he and Meng Zhao hurried to Hu Yingming’s estate with five others.
• Meng Zhao found signs that Lü Zhong had attacked the estate gates to draw Hu Yingming’s forces away, then broke through the gates and pressed inside.
• Meng Zhao’s group reached the main hall, where a fierce fight was underway, and Meng Zhao sent a servant boy in to announce his visit to Hu Yingming.
• Hu Yingming invited Meng Zhao inside, while Lü Zhong and Lü Yue wondered why their Young Master had come.

Meng Zhao confronted Hu Yingming at the Hu estate over the Earth Spirit Pearl, denying that he had it and invoking the Meng Family’s powerful allies. Hu Yingming lost his temper and ordered his men to attack, leaving a fight about to begin.

• Meng Zhao entered the Hu Family hall with Shi Jie and found Lü Zhong and Lü Yue unharmed.
• Hu Yingming accused Meng Zhao of stealing the Earth Spirit Pearl and threatened him by hurling a knife at his feet.
• Hu Yingming’s men brought in Bai Yang’s severed head and demanded that Meng Zhao surrender the Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Meng Zhao denied knowing about the theft, offered silver for Bai Yang’s death and the stolen treasure, and condemned Hu Yingming’s conduct.
• Meng Zhao cited the Meng Family’s ties to the Sage Kong Family and White Head Mountain, then Hu Yingming ordered his men to attack him.

Meng Zhao’s group confronted Hu Yingming, whose hired fighters hesitated to attack until he ordered them to engage the Meng Mansion experts. Hu Yingming then called on Fine Rain Sword Liu Song to fight Lü Zhong, and their clash revealed Liu Song’s formidable sword techniques.

• Hu Yingming’s hired experts avoided Meng Zhao and fought Lü Yue and the other Meng Mansion experts instead.
• Meng Zhao recognized Liu Song as the likely person who had injured Lü Zhong, then stepped back as Lü Zhong offered to face him.
• Hu Yingming ordered Liu Song to cripple Lü Zhong, vowing to settle their old grievance and take the Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Liu Song unleashed his Eye Sword Technique and transformed a stream of force into a storm of sword qi aimed at Lü Zhong.
• Lü Zhong met Liu Song’s attack with a massive palm strike, and the shockwaves drove the surrounding fighters apart as they watched the masters clash.

Meng Zhao watched Liu Song and Lü Zhong battle while Hu Yingming secretly approached him, intending to attack and reclaim the Earth Spirit Pearl. Hu Yingming launched a savage punch at Meng Zhao, who had anticipated the ambush and hoped to seize him as a hostage.

• Meng Zhao analyzed Liu Song and Lü Zhong's evenly matched fight and judged that Liu Song would eventually defeat the aging Lü Zhong.
• Shi Jie prepared to intervene if necessary, while Hu Yingming watched the battle with confidence and chose Meng Zhao as his target.
• Hu Yingming stealthily approached Meng Zhao, then sprang forward and aimed a powerful, sinister punch at his face.
• Meng Zhao sensed Hu Yingming coming, concealed his readiness, and planned to capture him to secure his companions' escape.